Dead or Alive: A Love Story
by Browniesas
Summary: Leifang and Jann Lee go to the same private school but avoid each other at all costs, until 1 day brings them together in ways they don't expect. But when disaster strikes the school, how far will they go to protect 1 another?
1. Prologue

Prologue

The fierce wind broke through her jacket and she shivered slightly. She pulled her jacket in tighter, trying to stay warm. She pulled the collar up of her jacket and she then stuffed her hands into her pockets, keeping her arms tight by her sides, hunching slightly. The wind howled once more, carrying crisp golden leaves through the air, and died.

The streets of Shanghai were deserted, the street lamps flickering uselessly. The street grounds began to unravel as the smooth concrete sidewalks turned into hard packed soil; she began to walk faster, her breathing creating small puffs of smoke which escaped her painted lips. She checked over both of her shoulders, then proceeded to putting on her hood, making sure not to ruin her delicate braids.

The streets were broad with dark, empty stores which lined up opposite each other. One of the street lamps flickered off, leaving her in perfect darkness. She cringed when suddenly one of her heels got stuck in a pothole. She jiggled her foot anxiously, looked around, and then continued to shake her foot free of the earth's grasp. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadow near one of the lamp posts on the opposite end of the street. Failing to admit that she had seen anything, she continued to work on her heel which was jammed into the hole.

Then, very distinctly, a footstep was heard from behind her. She straightened up and swiveled around to see a lone shadow illuminated under a street lamp. Slowly, it began to move towards her, limping slightly on one leg.

She froze in cold dread, sheer panic overwhelming her. Her blood began to rush to her ears and she felt as she were drowning in them.

The Black Hand. Everyone had heard of the notorious legendary gang that dated back to the 40's, as their generation carried on. They were known to be the top drug lords in all of Shanghai as well as their other various bad deeds. But what they were most famous for was avoiding the law. None of them ever got caught and no evidence of their actions were ever revealed. They avoided the police and the police avoided them - it was a done deal.

But now, she was about to become one of their victims.

She was never taught self defense, her mother frowning at the possibility of her daughter learning how to fight. "Fighting is for men," she remembered distinctly when her mother admonished her in disapproval. "Leave it to them, Leifang."

"But I want to learn how to fight!" she had complained to her mother.

Her mother's eyebrows had knitted togetherwhen she had answered. "Woman bring life into the world; they do not _take_ life." She had started to whine, but her mother had slapped her. "Enough, Leifang. It's time you learn proper etiquette for your future husband."

She remembered those words now and hot tears sprang into her eyes. I can't give up, she reprimanded herself, but there was nothing she could do as the lone shadow advanced on her. Four more silhouettes joined the first, all of them walking in a slightly drunken fashion.

Another round of shadows came up from behind her surrounding, and she began wishing even more desperately. Finally, she managed to yank her heel out of the pothole and then she ran to the nearest store, almost tripping, but hastily catching herself.

She tumbled into the dusty bar, running to the far side of the room, when suddenly a face appeared in front of her. She opened her mouth to scream, but the spirit slapped its hand over her mouth and grabbed both of her wrists in its other. Its hand was cold and clammy and it felt as if it were sending shocks throughout her body, holding her prisoner. The spirit had black hair and soulless black eyes, entrancing her with its morbid beauty.

"Leifang," it whispered, its pale lips moving silently when it mouthed her name. she felt herself go numb with cold, as if her mind was slipping away from her body. She fought despairingly against the spirit from possessing her, finally breaking the connection by kicking its shin.

It hissed in pain, letting go of her to grasp his bruised shin. She twirled around him, running towards the back exit when it grabbed her ankle and she fell. She kicked its hand away as it slowly got up from the ground and stood over her, his expression deadly.

She shrank away from it, turning, and hiding her face from the horrible creature who stood at her feet. She screamed when suddenly, she was interrupted by a high keening sound that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She opened her eyes to see the creature that had once been so close to her, now lying on his hack, trying to get up. Instead, an actual human stood in front of her, his back to her, poised as if in battle. His white shirt seemed to glow in the darkness that surrounded her as she looked upon her savior.

He turned around…


	2. The Dance

Just fyi: Sorry for making this one boring, but I had to have a setting and extra characters in it too. I just hope the next chapter is better…. 

I do not own Leifang and Jann Lee and any other character in Dead or Alive. They all respectfully belong to Team Ninja.

Chapter 1: The Dance

Leifang jerked awake, sitting up in her bed, and gasping. She sighed, her shoulders sagging, feeling more tired than she had ever felt. She looked at the time, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. It was 4 in the morning. She groaned and fell back.

She tried to fall back asleep and wasn't able to. _Who is this man?_ Every time he turned around, Leifang found herself awake. She never got to see his face and because of it, it made her feel anxious.

Rubbing her temples, she warily got, knowing she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. She grabbed her bag of toiletries and her school uniform, cringing as she did. Leifang slipped into her slippers and gingerly opened the door of her dorm room, and softly walked down the hallway which was lined with doors to the other girls' dorm rooms.

At the end of the hallway was a bathroom and she stepped inside; washing her face and brushing her teeth. She took a long hot bath, forgetting about her dream and soaking the stress away.

She took so long in fact, the other girls began to get up. Not wanting to get in a fight with anyone, she hastily got dressed and swept her blow-dried hair into their usual braids.

Leifang took one last look at her appearance, frowning at her uniform. All the girls were required to wear a thin white collared shirt with a navy blue v-neck sweater over it and a gold tie. They also had to wear a black skirt with golden designs on it, socks that reached midway up the calves, and black ballet shoes. The guys had to wear the same top as the girls had to, but with black pants with gold and blue designs on the back pockets, and polished shoes.

Leifang absolutely despised the uniform.

"Leifang!" someone shouted, banging on the door, causing her to jump. "You're going to make us all late!"

"Then use the other bathrooms." She grumbled to the girl, Lily.

"They're all taken!"

"Fine." She mumbled, discarding the tank top and pajamas she had worn to bed in the laundry chute. She grabbed her toiletry bag and opened the door.

Lily and a line of girls were standing outside the door, looking exasperated.

"Thanks a lot, Leifang." Cindy, one of the girls, mumbled sourly.

"Sorry." She said, blushing, putting her head down, and scurrying away to her bedroom. She put her stuff away, grabbed her tote bag that carried all her school things, and left the room, locking the door and hurrying to the courtyard.

Leifang spotted her friends who waved her over. They sat in their usual spot next to the great fountain which was in the middle of the courtyard. The intricately designed marbled floor glistened with the fresh polish as students bustled about noisily, their voices echoing throughout the courtyard.

There were circular tables everywhere which were littered with the usual breakfast condiments. Miniature fountains and trees with elegant leaves adorned the entire courtyard. Above, the great glass dome which sparkled like diamonds, shielded the students from the treacherous snow, keeping the courtyard nice and toasty warm.

"Tell me why we have to wear these hideous uniforms again?" Leifang complained as she took her seat and began eating her pancakes which her friends had so politely gotten for her while she was away. "I mean, we're college students; this is outright ridiculous."

Hay Lin snorted while eating her bagel and cream cheese. She had long glossy pigtails and wide dark eyes. "You would think that with people who have such good designing skills -" she waved her arms at the courtyard and the building. "They could at least design better outfits. But _no_, of course not."

All the girls laughed softly.

"Did you hear about Andy and Cho?" Lisa burst out.

"You mean the couple that's practically married?" Hay Lin said drily.

"_Was."_ She said, waggling her eyebrows, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.

"No way!" Amber half shrieked, dropping the muffin she had been eating. Everyone knew she still liked Andy even when he began dating Cho.

Lisa looked at her with the same face.

Amber's eyes widened, her mouth opening even more. "What happened - tell me _everything_."

Leifang rolled her eyes when Ella interrupted them.

"Who cares what happened?" she turned to Amber who had her mouth open in shock, ready to say something, when Ella beat her to it. "Uh, _hello?_ Since Andy's off the hook with Cho - he's up for grabs. And you know what the perfect way to go out with him? Sign up for the Annual Ballroom Dance! It'll be perfect!"

"But that's a 1 in a million chance!" Amber bit her lip, her eyebrows crinkling with worry. "Besides, what if I'm with some weirdo?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, _whoa._" Lisa interjected, raising her voice so that all the girls turned to her. "What _dance?_"

"The Annual Ballroom Dance?" Ella raised her eyebrows. "Don't you ever read the school paper?"

"No." Lisa said slowly, and then panicked. "But I don't have a date!"

"No worries," Ella said. "The point of the dance _is_ to meet new people. All you have to do is write your name on a slip of paper and turn it in the main office. The day before the dance they pair you up -"

"How do they pair you up?"

"From the survey they took when we first arrived here."

"What?!" Lisa shrieked, causing a few people around them to turn around and stare at her. She lowered her voice and continued. "I took that survey as a joke! I wrote all sorts of crap on there!"

"Chill -" Hay Lin commented.

"I will not chill!" Lisa snapped, standing up. "I have to go to this dance, I just know something good is going to happen if I don't." she grabbed her things in her hand as well as her donut. "I'm going to the main office! I'm going to demand a new survey." Then she stalked off.

"She's going in the wrong direction." Hay Lin said, watching her as the others followed her gaze. "Oh, wait…sensing us watching her…looking confused for a moment…changing direction…right direction? Yes, as a matter of fact. Oh crap, now she's glaring at me." She turned to them, raising her eyebrows. "Well, at least we know she's not completely lost."

"So," Ella said, rounding on Hay Lin. "Who do you want to go with?"

"What are you talking about?" Hay Lin snapped, although they all knew she was lying. Her face turned pink.

"You know what I mean," she chided her, but Hay Lin kept her face stone cold. She rolled her eyes. "To the dance?"

"I'm not going to the dance." Hay Lin sniffed, focusing on her orange, thus ending the conversation on her terms.

"You have to, Lin Lin!" Leifang teased, using her friend's nickname. "It's going to be fun!"

"Don't call me that!" she snapped, looking around as if someone would notice their conversation. "It's going to be stupid just like last year!"

"You weren't even technically here last year."

"My sister was! And she said she said it was stupid."

"Your sister is antisocial too, just like you, so we can't trust her input."

Hay Lin glared at her.

"C'mon Hay Lin!" Amber whined, grabbing her arm. "Just submit your name and if you don't like the person who you're going with, then just cancel!"

"No!" Hay Lin snatched her arm away from Amber, picked up her messenger bag and her muffin, and then turned to the rest of the girls. "I'll be in the study hall finishing the rest of my homework before the bell rings." She said tightly and left.

"We have like 10 minutes before the bell rings." Amber said slowly, trying to figure something out. "How is she going to get to the study hall which is like 20 minutes away -"

"Five minutes." Ella put in.

Amber ignored her as if she hadn't even spoken. "And to the gym which is like another 20 minutes away?"

Ella rolled her eyes and stood up. "Well I have to head up to the laboratory - _which is like 20 minutes away."_ Ella swept her hair back, mocking Amber's speech.

"Hey!" Amber cried as the others laughed.

"Yeah, I have to go to. I still haven't submitted my name to the dance committee." Leifang said, laughing at them at the same time. "Come on Melody, we have to sign you up too."

Melody sighed, but got up and grabbed her things.

"Ta-ta!" Leifang sung, grabbing Melody with her as she left the two bickering girls at the table.

"There it is!" Leifang said excitedly, yanking a reluctant Melody with her.

A long table stood outside the main office with a gigantic box in the middle of 4 notepads with pens waiting to be used. There were only a couple of people there and Leifang recognized one of them as Andy.

"Hey Leifang!" he called to her, smiling. He had a friendly boyish face with spiky brown hair and was easily one of the cutest and most popular guys at school. Even Leifang had to admit that he was cute, although he wasn't exactly her type.

"Hey Andy," Leifang smiled politely, pulling Melody along with who suddenly felt like a ton.

"Wassup Melody." He grinned at her, who ducked behind Leifang - _and was she _blushing - Leifang thought in surprise. _Melody is the shy type who could care less about guys, so what's going on now?_

"Already huh?" Leifang said, smirking slightly.

"Well," Andy looked down, blushing. "Cho signed up, so I thought that if she could sign up so easily then -"

"You could too?" she finished, raising her eyebrows. "You still like her, don't you?"

"No!" he protested and she folded her arms across her chest. "Really! I honestly don't like her anymore. In fact, the reason why I dumped her was because she started acting all b***** and protective about me. It was like she was controlling my every move." He shivered slightly and then grinned. "So why are you entering?"

"To meet just the right person." Leifang simply responded while writing her name. She put her name and Melody's name who refused to move, into the box. "See you around." She said to Andy who was scratching his head in confusion.

"Yeah, you too."

And with that, she pulled Melody with her to her first class.

Hay Lin had already changed for gym when the 2 girls arrived in the locker room.

"Hey Hay Lin!" Leifang said to her friend who was tying her shoes.

Hay Lin ignored her as if she wasn't even there, but acknowledged Melody, who smothered a snicker.

Leifang rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips. "You can't ignore me forever. I'm very hard to ignore, and you know that Lin Lin."

She looked up. "If I be your friend, will you stop calling me that?"

"Nope!" Leifang smiled, bent over, and hugged her friend, who grudgingly smiled too. "You seriously have to go to the dance."

"Can you bother me about that later, please?" she whined.

"Fine, but I'm not letting it go." Leifang promised, changing into her white tank top and navy blue shorts.

Melody also changed into her red t-shirt and black shorts, just when other girls began to file into the locker room. The 3 girls mingled in the locker room until the bell rang and then left for class.

They pushed past the double doors that led to the huge gymnasium, which was littered with mats that day. The guys were already there with a few other girls who were talking amongst themselves. Leifang, Melody, and Hay Lin joined them, chatting until the teachers arrived.

"Alright, settle down." Mr. Chen shouted, which quieted the students. "Today we're going to learn the basics of how to fight. I've already paired you off - and I want no complaints. I've tried my best to pair you all with the same gender, but we don't have as many girls as we do guys.

"So when I call your names, I want you 2 to find a spot in the gym. I'll give you further directions when I see that everyone is ready. Understood?"

They nodded.

"First pair - Amy and Sarah!"

The 2 girls squealed in excitement as they were already friends. Leifang felt her stomach flip-flop. _Please don't pair me off with someone I don't know,_ she silently wished.

"Jeremy and Chris!"

The 2 walked to a part in the gym.

"Melody and Hay Lin!"

They smiled happily but then shot Leifang sympathetic faces, walking off to a part of the gym, leaving her all alone. The teacher continued to call roll when finally all the girls were paired off with each other.

Leifang groaned mentally when suddenly she heard her name called.

"Leifang and Jann Lee!" the teacher, Mr. Chen boomed.

Her mouth popped open as a single thought ran through her head. _No please! Anyone but _him!


	3. Jann Lee

**Chapter 3: Jann Lee**

_Please let me be dreaming, _she cried to herself, just as Jann Lee stepped out amongst the other guys. _What did I do to deserve this punishment? He's the most serious and self-centered jerk in the universe,_ she whined mentally as she followed Jann Lee sulkily.

Leifang shot her friends, who looked shocked, a despairing look when Jann Lee stopped so suddenly that she ran into him. She flinched as she hit his hard back, catching herself, and hastily taking a few steps back.

He swiveled around to face her, his cold light brown eyes flashing dangerously. "Watch where you're going." He snapped and Leifang blushed, looking down at her feet. And with that, the pair was silent as the teacher finished calling out the names.

"First, I want to see what you all already know about self defense. So we'll begin with free fighting." The teacher instructed the class. "Engage when you're ready."

Leifang turned to Jann Lee who looked determined. Her stomach fluttered again when she thought of comforting words to soothe her - _it's only for 45 minutes, Leifang - you can do this._

She brought her fists up, the move feeling foreign to her as Jann Lee did the same and for the first time looking uncertain as well.

He had dark brown hair which was spiked from the front and tanned skin compared to Leifang's pure white skin. He had on a simple t-shirt which showed off his think muscles and he also had on black shorts.

Leifang wasn't sure whether or not to make the first move - feeling pressured to do _some_thing as they were the only pair not engaged in combat. Just then, Mr. Chen walked by, stopping suddenly. He scowled at the 2.

"C'mon you two - I expect some attempt."

"Sir…" Jann Lee protested helplessly. "I can't hit a…girl, sir."

The guys began to snicker while the girls began to croon in pleasure as they all stopped to listen to their conversation. Leifang felt the blood rush to her face as the teacher shot death looks at the students.

"Why don't you try the first move then Leifang?" Mr. Chen suggested. "If it's still uncomfortable for you Jann Lee, then stick to defensive moves. Remember, this isn't any extreme fighting, so it shouldn't be much of a problem. No one should get hurt - keep that in mind too."

"Yes sir." Jann Lee answered as more snickers erupted around the room and Mr. Chen rounded on them.

_Maybe he actually does have a heart in the end,_ Leifang thought, speaking too early as her mind reeled from what she had just heard.

When Mr. Chen left, Jann Lee turned to face Leifang again. This time, his face was emotionless. She saw his eyes tighten and his fists curled, which caused her to take a step back. Suddenly, he rushed her, throwing a variety of punches and kicks in her direction which she surprisingly either blocked or dodged.

Breathing raggedly, Jann Lee took a step back as Leifang grew astonished that she had actually managed to survive his onslaught.

He stalked towards her once more, but this time _she _advanced. She swung a punch at him which he simply ducked to avoid the blow. He kicked out, aiming for her ribs when she grabbed it and swung it away from her, throwing him off balance.

He quickly recovered when Leifang unfortunately took a swing at his head, which he trapped. By this time everyone had stopped to watch the couple as Jann Lee enclosed his fist around Leifang's tiny fist and roughly shoved her back.

A cry of shock went through the girls whom watched as Leifang stumbled, but hastily righted herself. Mr. Chen tried to stop the fighting but a huge mass of whooping and hollering students surrounded the pair, making it almost impossible to navigate through the crowd.

"Leifang!" Melody cried out just as Hay Lin shouted, "Watch out!" The 2 girls were trying to get past the throng of students to help their friend, but like Mr. Chen, were unable to do so.

Leifang ignored them all as Jann Lee came running up to her. _I'm going to teach this jerk that he's not the greatest,_ she thought furiously. _That the stupid world doesn't revolve around him. How _dare _he try to attack me! I'll show him. _

Jann Lee aimed a punch at her in which she grabbed his wrist, moving quickly as she pulled his arm behind his back. She raised it above his head to reveal a key pressure point she had learned in one of her classes - the kidney.

She jabbed her hand into his back and he immediately went limp, wordlessly crumpling to the floor. The students cheered at Leifang's victory just as Hay Lin, Melody, and Mr. Chen burst through.

"What in the world is going on here?" Mr. Chen exploded, his face red with anger. He caught sight of Jann Lee and then at Leifang who stood frozen in place, her arms still outstretched. She quickly dropped her arms as he rushed to Jann Lee.

Hay Lin and Melody stood at the sidelines, unsure of whether to approach their friend when Mr. Chen snapped irritably, "Dismissed!" The students grumbled complaints, but left, leaving Mr. Chen, Jann Lee, and Leifang the only people in the gym.

Mr. Chen gently grabbed Jann Lee's arms, helping him to his feet. Leifang stepped in to help, ducking under Jann Lee's arm to help support his weight. Just when she thought she was going to be crushed under his weight even with Mr. Chen's help as they walked towards the double doors, Jann Lee snapped out of his trance, shaking his head.

He first looked at the small figure to his left who was struggling under his weight then at Mr. Chen when he remembered. He pulled away from Leifang, feeling cold resentment flood his feelings as she looked at him in surprise.

"Sorry," she mumbled, turning her head so she wouldn't have to meet his furious gaze.

Mr. Chen lightly touched Jann Lee's arm, who instantly rounded on him. "I think you should go see a nurse Jann Lee, just in case. I warned you 2 not to-"

"I'm fine." Jann Lee immediately snapped, snatching his arm from Mr. Chen. And without another word, he stomped out the gym doors.

******Sorry for making this one short, but please please please read and review!!**


	4. Too Much Attention

**Chapter 4: Too Much Attention**

Over the next couple of classes Leifang felt as if she saw Jann Lee everywhere which reminded her of the morning. Every time she saw him, she tried to duck her head or look away, but he always managed to see her too. And every time she saw him, she could feel the burning hatred emanating from his gaze after being humiliated in front of the whole class.

Leifang flinched for the nth time when she decided she finally had enough. So she stopped him the next time she passed by him, which was on the way to the courtyard for lunch.

"What do you want from me?" she demanded, trying to feel strong even though she felt like she was about to burst out crying.

Jann Lee simply stared at her like she was some kind of nasty pest. "I never did anything to you." And with that, he pushed past her to the courtyard.

Turning pink with rage, Leifang took the other entrance to the courtyard towards her friends.

"I hate Jann Lee!" she blurted out; overcome with a blinding rage to strangle him.

Ella, Lisa, Hay Lin, Melody, and Amber turned to look at her with surprise written over their faces.

"_Hate?_" Amber began faintly. "Isn't that a little harsh? All he was doing was following the teacher's instructions - even though he kind of went berserk on you but-"

"No, not that!" Leifang said impatiently, resting her hand on her forehead, feeling a headache coming.

"Sit down and eat." Melody said gently, pulling her friend down to her seat. "It'll help to take deep breaths too."

"No, it won't." She sighed. "All because of gym he's holding some kind of grudge against me. Like I ruined his reputation or something!"

"Well, technically you did." Amber started but shut up when Leifang glared at her.

"It's not my fault though!" Leifang protested. "Every time we pass by each other he glares at me! I can't stand it."

Melody touched her arm, smiling sympathetically. "Don't worry, it'll all become a distant memory tomorrow. He'll and others will forget what happened today. It's okay Leifang. Everything will work out - now _eat._"

Leifang hugged Melody and smiled. "Thanks," she looked down at her soup and bread which lay untouched. "But I'm really not hungry."

Melody started to protest but she cut her off.

"I have to study for next period anyways. I have a HUGE test coming up for Mrs. Chang's class." She rose to leave when Ella frowned.

"But that's not until 2 weeks from now."

"Well, um - gotta go, bye!" Leifang rushed, grabbing her bag, and heading towards the stair case.

She was about to reach the stairwell when Andy appeared.

"Hey Leifang!" he called to her, quickly joining her side. "Where are you heading?"

"Um," she brushed a piece of her hair back from her eyes, debating on whether or not to tell the truth or to just lie. "Study hall - I have to do some major cramming."

His eyebrows rose as they climbed the steps. "Really? For what class?"

"Mrs. Chang's."

"But that's not until -"

"Two weeks from now." Leifang finished, getting annoyed. "Yes, I know."

Andy smiled, oblivious to her mood. "Since when have you become the busy student bee?" he asked, nudging her with his shoulder. "Isn't that Ella?"

She sniffed, turning her head away. "What? I can't care about my grades?"

He stared at her until she turned to him as they both stopped at the top of the steps. Suddenly, Andy turned serious.

"What happened?"

"Nothing!" she put a confused look on her face, but Andy saw right through it.

""Tell me."

"There isn't any thing to tell."

Leifang started walking again when he grabbed her wrist.

"It's obvious, Leifang."

She tugged his arm, turning furious. "Let _go_, Andy!"

"Tell me what happened."

"Stop it!" she desperately tried to unlatch his grip from her wrist, but he clung on. And to make matters worse, she saw _him_ walking towards their direction.

"Just tell me. Why don't you trust me?" he looked hurt.

It's not about trusting." She said tightly. "It's about _who_ you want to tell."

Andy immediately let go and Leifang swiveled around, heading towards the study hall entrance. She found herself a secluded place, behind some bookshelves and sat down, using a smaller bookshelf that was behind her as her back rest. She pulled her knees up to her chest and took out her textbook and began reading the chapter.

Her cheeks were still burning with humiliation and anger some 5 minutes later when a shadow fell upon her.

Disgusted, she looked up to see Jann Lee standing over her; his expression a mixture of hatred and worry.

"What do you want?" she said warily.

"What happened back there?" his voice was surprisingly soft; even his concern was genuine.

She looked down at her textbook. "It's none of your business."

Jann Lee crouched down to meet her eye level, thus forcing her to look up. "I think it is my business." He said gently.

Leifang felt as if time froze when she _really_ looked upon his face which was very, _very_ close. So close, that she could feel his warmth and his breath when he spoke to her. She also noticed his handsome face for what felt to be the first time.

_What's wrong with me? Why do I feel an attraction? Please tell me I'm not falling for him! And for this crap he's giving me now too! C'mon Leifang! _

He spoke again. "I'm sorry for being mean to you from before. I just - I didn't mean to and - I'm sorry." He looked down at his shoes for a moment and then looked up again. "I'm sorry Leifang." He stared at her, hoping she would accept his apology and Leifang stuttered, feeling overwhelmed by his pained expression.

"Uh…o-okay." She mumbled, playing with her hands nervously.

He bit his lip, debating whether or not to take her seriously when Leifang decided to venture farther with the new found relationship.

"The fact that you actually apologized - to _me_ - it means a lot. Thank you."

Jann Lee nodded, satisfied with her answer, and stood up. "I should go. Sorry if I disturbed you."

"It's okay." She smiled encouragingly, but inside her stomach dropped at the thought of him leaving so soon. _What's happening to me?_

He took one long last look at her before leaving, causing her to blush. He stopped suddenly and turned around.

"Are you going to the dance?" he asked as he tried to hide the curiosity in his voice.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Oh, nothing." He cleared his throat, turning red. "See you around."

"See ya." Once he left, Leifang smiled to herself, feeling energized.


	5. Questions

**Chapter 5: Questions**

Once Leifang was sure that Jann Lee was far from the study hall, she got up, grabbing her things. She rushed out the exit and down the stairwell towards the courtyard when the bell rang.

"Crap!" she said quietly, but headed towards her class. _I guess I'll just tell the others later._

All throughout the rest of the day Leifang wasn't able to concentrate, thinking only about Jann Lee. Numerous times her name was called and she ended up blurting out random answers in which she got frowned upon because of.

Finally, when the end of class was near, Leifang asked to use the restroom, taking all of her stuff with her and quietly slipped out of the classroom.

_I'm only skipping 5 minutes of class. And besides, I bet he wouldn't even notice me gone - that class is so dreary anyways._

With that in mind, she freely roamed the halls. She was turning a corner when she accidently ran into Cho.

Cho's face was always heavily made up so Leifang wasn't surprised to see the bright blue eye shadow and the thick red lipstick smeared onto her face.

"Oh, hi Leifang." She said distractedly, her head held high.

"Hey."

"Have you seen Andy?"

_Huh? What does she want with him?_ "Um, no, sorry."

"Oh." But she still stood there so Leifang waited patiently for her to continue. "So, you've and Andy have become friends, right?" Cho looked tense, waiting for her answer.

"Well, we've always been -"

"Yeah, but now your closer?"

"Um - no not really." Leifang turned red. "Just friends, honestly."

"Oh, okay then." Cho looked more relaxed and Leifang resisted the urge to roll her eyes in front of her face. "Bye."

"Yeah - bye." _Looks like Andy was right. She is kind of over obsessed with him. I wonder what she wants from him anyways._

She quickly made her way to Melody's, Ella's, and Hay Lin's class which they all shared. When the bell finally rang, students began to pour into the hallways at once, filling the halls that were so empty and bare, now with alive and exuberant students.

The 3 girls were just exiting the classroom when Leifang scared them. They shrieked in fright, but laughed and slapped Leifang's arm playfully.

"I have a _LOT_ of stuff to tell you girls!" she exclaimed, feeling jittery like she had just had coffee.

"Like what?" Ella asked just as Lisa and Amber joined them as they headed towards the girls study which was just like a living room where the girls were able to meet together and talk.

"Oh, just _something._"

"Like what?" Ella repeated, turning irritable.

"What are we talking about?" Amber interrupted.

"Something happened - but Leifang won't tell us."

"C'mon Leifang! Spill!" Lisa joined in.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jann Lee walking by in the opposite direction with a crowd of his friends surrounding him. Suddenly, as if sensing someone looking at him, he caught Leifang's eye - and waved, grinning. She returned it happily, not caring if his friends or her own friends saw.

"Oh my gawd!" Amber shrieked, grabbing Leifang's arm. "No way! You got jerk boy to smile - at _you_! This must mean the _some_thing."

"Tell me." Lisa said sternly. "Tell me _every_ single detail Leifang!"

"When we get there." Leifang muttered, turning red and looking down, but not before she saw Jann Lee's eyebrows rise and a look - not even Leifang could decipher what it meant - came across his face.

_Was it confusion mixed with pain and possibly grief? Or guilt? What does that mean?_ She pondered this as her friends practically dragged her to the lounge. 


	6. Bonding

**Chapter 6: Bonding **

"I love weekends!" Amber screamed happily, standing up in her chair, her arms waving in the air like a raving lunatic.

"She did not just do that." Hay Lin whispered, starring, dumbfounded.

It was a bright and early morning with the sun shining through the crystal dome. The 6 girls were seated in their usual spots in the courtyard when Amber had screamed abruptly.

A couple of students turned to them, but many ignored them, already used to their crazy neighbor.

One passing student remarked, "amen to that sister."

Amber's face glowed then frowned, looking at her friends. "See, at least _some_ people are nice."

"Please get down." Hay Lin said.

"Make me!"

"Don't you have any dignity?" Ella snapped. "Get down!"

"Oh, she's just having fun Ella." Lisa said in a matter of fact tone. "Relax."

"Amber - you idiot - what's wrong with you?" Hay Lin scowled.

"Lighten up you to!" Amber scoffed. "The dance is like in 2 days! And then we have winter break! And that means no uniforms too!"

"Yeah!" Lisa said, then got up in her chair and started whooping and hollering like Amber.

"Oh no." Melody said quietly and covered her red face in embarrassment.

People began to turn and stare - some looking shocked and angry while others looked happy and ecstatic.

"I'm leaving." Leifang announced, grabbing her things and putting as much distance between her and the girls.

She was just exiting the courtyard when she ran into Jann Lee.

He caught her and set her upright in which she blushed furiously. _Stupid,_ she admonished to herself, _look where you're going!_

He smiled warmly and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, which made her blush more.

"Skipping breakfast, I see?"

"Trust me," she said, turning serious. "You don't want to go in there."

He laughed and Leifang began to see the tightness that usually wound its way onto his features, manage to escape for once.

Jann Lee caught her staring at him and she quickly looked away. The tightening began to happen again and she felt the open and friendly Jann Lee slip through her fingers to be replaced by a protective and a closed off Jann Lee.

She felt compelled to comfort him when he suddenly spoke. "You want to walk?"

"Sure," she agreed right away.

As they walked down the some what empty hallway with the students choosing to eat their breakfast elsewhere, Jann Lee began to grow even more morose.

"What's wrong?" Leifang asked him, looking concerned.

He looked at the floor then at her, opening his mouth then closing it, shaking his head and looking away.

"What…?" she touched his arm and they stopped.

"It's nothing." He looked at her. "Really."

Unsatisfied, she said crisply. "Fine," then continued walking without him.

He caught up with her in 2 giant strides, taking his place beside her again.

"Where are we heading?" he asked casually.

"No idea."

They both stopped as they looked upon the entrance in front of them.

"In the mood for some studying?" Jann Lee asked in a sarcastic happy tone.

Leifang made a face and they laughed.

They continued to walk when this time, they bumped into Andy. Immediately, Andy took Leifang's other side, chatting happily with her, completely ignoring Jann Lee who inched closer to her, his face cold and unhappy.

"Man, Amber is nuts! I feel bad for the poor guy who'll have to take her to the dance." Andy laughed, but Leifang's eyes widened in alarm.

"Oh, um." She managed faintly.

"Oh, sorry." He immediately said, eyeing Jann Lee suspiciously, who looked straight forward, then turned back to Leifang. "She is your friend after all.

"Hey," he said, switching subjects. "Me and a couple of friends are going to the movie theater if the snow isn't too deep. You want to join? Come on, we all need a break from this place."

"Um, actually," she said, panicking. She elbowed Jann Lee who turned to her, looking surprised. "Um, Jann Lee and I were actually going to um - tell him Jann Lee." She turned to him desperately.

"Workout. In the gym." He mumbled, shrugging his shoulders at Leifang who gave him a look.

Andy looked confused and was still not making direct contact with Jann Lee, Leifang noticed. "Um…"

"Yeah," Jann Lee continued on conversationally. "We decided to just you know…" he shrugged again at a loss of words.

"Workout, yeah." Leifang said, smiling politely which came out to look fake.

"Oh, okay." Andy said sadly, his shoulders slumping when he straightened up again. "Mind if I join?"

"Uh…" was all she could think of.

"Great, I'll meet you in the gym at 12!" then he walked off, looking triumphant.

"Great." She said weakly then immediately turned to Jann Lee, scowling furiously. "_Workout?_"

"I couldn't think of anything else!" he complained. "What was I supposed to say?"

"I don't know." She whined. "Anything but _that!"_

"Well then say never mind and cancel."

"That would be rude. We have to go."

"_You_ have to go, I don't have to." Jann Lee said smugly.

"I'm not going by myself!" Leifang shot back.

"Fine." He grumbled, scowling at her.

Two hours later, the 3 of them were in the empty gym, stretching.

"Hey Leifang," Andy called to her, his voice slightly patronizing. "You want to spar?"

"Um…sure."

They faced each other while Jann Lee watched tensely, his arms folded across his chest.

Andy was smiling and right then Leifang wanted to punch him, her cheeks burning with adrenaline.

"Okay - you ready?"

"I'm not a child, Andy." She snapped and out of the corner of her eye she saw Jann Lee trying to smother a chuckle.

Andy threw a punch at her in slow motion; gritting her teeth, she pushed his wrist away, snapping out her left arm, jamming it into his neck. He coughed and sputtered, but she didn't stop, moving fast as she hooked her left leg with his right leg and yanking hard.

The movement was so quick and so sudden that he flipped in mid-air and landed on his face.

Leifang bended over him as he tried to get up, her fists planted firmly on her hips. "Not so strong, now are ya?"

He growled, but got up, getting right in her face. "So you have some good moves - tai chi, I'm guessing - but I'm not going to be uptight about it. You won fair in square." While he was talking, he shot a glance at Jann Lee whose face contorted into rage.

"You are of in no position to question what I do as moral or unjust." Jann Lee barked, his fists clenching menacingly as he made his way towards Andy who stood his guard.

Leifang quickly put her hands on Jann Lee's chest, trying to calm him down. Once he relaxed, she turned back to Andy. "If you're going to talk crap Andy, then you can just leave. You did have plans after all."

"No, I'm going to stay." He said defiantly, scowling as he crossed his arms.

"Fine. C'mon - spar me Jann."

"Maybe later," he mumbled, looking ashamed.

Leifang wordlessly glared at Andy who smiled innocently at her in return, before turning back to Jann Lee. "Then what do you want to do?"

He shrugged. "Ice cream?"

Her face instantly lit up. "Yes!"

The 3 of them had decided to eat their ice creams in the crowded courtyard which was now filled with students either working or eating a late lunch.

Leifang busily licked her rainbow sherbet, trying to ignore the 2 feuding boys she sat in between.

Andy was grumpily eating his own sundae, picking it at times with his head in his hand while Jann Lee was living in his own world, eating his coffee ice cream distractedly.

_How do I get rid of Andy? I just want to spend the day with Jann but he keeps following us! Oh, he's such a pain! I wish he was still with Cho. _Then, _I might be able to find some alone time with Jann._

"Don't you have homework?" she asked him, trying not to sound rude.

"Nope." He grinned. "I finished it all yesterday.

"Oh," _darn. Wait a second - _I _still have homework. _"Do you have homework Jann?"

He nodded, seeming puzzled by the question.

_Perfect!_ "I guess we better start on that homework then, huh?"

He swallowed, nodding slowly. "Yeah, we should."

Both of them got up and Andy also shot up. _Now what_, Leifang thought warily.

"I have a project that's not due until 2 weeks from now. I can join you guys though."

Jann Lee shot a sideways glance at Leifang, the look meaning 'good try.'

"Alright." She said weakly.

And for the rest of the day, they finished up any homework and went to dinner together too with everyone staring at them. Leifang could especially feel the questioning eyes of her friends, including Amber's suspicious one.

When Andy had left for a couple of minutes to use the restroom, Jann Lee immediately pounced, seeing his opportunity as they were the only ones in the study hall too.

"Meet me at the courtyard at 3." He smiled secretly. "I have something to show you."

"Okay." She answered, feeling ecstatic, but trying not to show it.

Andy returned when Leifang yawned.

"I think I'm going to go to bed now."

"It's only 10." Andy said, surprised.

"Yeah, but I'm feeling tired." She stood up and immediately, the other 2 did the same.

"I can walk you down." Jann Lee offered.

"Yeah, me too." Andy added.

Jann Lee gathered up her stuff for her, carrying them for her.

"Thanks." Leifang said sweetly.

"No problem." He answered her smugly, seeing Andy's face turn red.

As they left the study hall, Andy opened the door for Leifang who replied, "thanks," reluctantly. He pretended to let the door handle slip through his fingers so that it closed in Jann Lee's face which turned red too.

Leifang sighed as she re-opened the door for him. "You're so immature Andy."

"It was an accident." He protested.

She rolled her eyes.

When they reached the girls dorm room entrance, Jann Lee handed Leifang her stuff. Feeling brave, she stood on her tip-toes while leaning forward, and quickly pecked Jann on the cheek.

He blushed, looking surprised yet genuinely happy. "See you tomorrow." He winked at her and left, leaving Andy behind who looked thunderstruck.

"Night Andy." She smiled then turned her back on him and proceeded to her room.

At exactly 2:55, Leifang bolted out of her bed, feeling jumpy. She pulled on some sweatpants and a t-shirt then quickly yet quietly, she rushed to the courtyard.

The 1st thing she noticed was how the moon light shone in through the dome, hitting the Great Fountain as just the right angle and illuminating it. Its beauty was absolutely stunning, as Leifang breathlessly whispered, "wow."

Jann Lee was already there, standing sill and watching the fountain. She ran to him, hugging him around the waist. He hugged her back, encasing her in his warmth.

"You came." He said, smiling happily.

"Of course I would." She answered, touching his cheek lightly.

"I have something for you." He announced, a long rectangle box seemed to have materialized in his hand.

"Oh, Jann Lee." She breathed, her cheeks turning pink. "You didn't have to-"

"Close your eyes." He instructed her as he opened the box. She fell quiet, obeying his wishes.

He walked to the back of her, gently lifting her hair away from her neck, and put the necklace on her.

"You can look," he whispered.

She immediately did so and gasped, lifting the delicate diamond heart from her chest. It shone brightly, glittering in the moonlight.

"Jann Lee," she said quietly, looking up at him. "It's beautiful, thank you."

"It is beautiful," he agreed, staring deep into her eyes. "But its beauty does not match yours."

Leifang blushed, stammering over her words. "Surely it is more beautiful than -"

But she wasn't able to finish her sentence as he swooped down upon her and pressed his mouth to hers. Ever so gently, he held her face in place while his other arm securely wrapped around her waist, pulling her to him.

Looking surprised and wide-eyed, Leifang pulled away momentarily. "Wha-?" she said breathlessly.

"I love you too much Leifang to keep away from you." He whispered. "I didn't think my self control would have lasted as long as it had." He chuckled softly.

"Jann Lee," she said shaking her head as if not believing what he had just said, but then suddenly, _she _advanced, looping her arms around his neck and basically throwing herself at him. She angled her head so they could kiss better, when Jann Lee picked her up off the floor, hugging her to his chest.

Suddenly, there was a nearby snap of a twig and the 2 sprang apart from each other. Andy's fist had turned white with the branch of the plant still in his grip. _No,_ he thought, his stomach dropping and feeling like he had to hurl. _Get a hold of yourself,_ he scolded himself severely, _you couldn't have liked her _that_ much._

Again, the image of the 2 kissing popped into his mind, and he quickly pushed it aside - ready to bolt from his spot underneath the shadows. _I have to leave - _now. Feeling light-headed and sick he started to back away but then stopped. _They might see me. I have to wait._

Depressingly, he watched again as Jann Lee quickly closed the distance between the 2, grabbing Leifang's hands in his.

"It's getting late." He murmured, pushing a lock of hair out of her face and behind her ear. "You should go back to bed." He continued, although he made no move of leaving himself.

"Oh, Jann," she whined and Andy almost puked there, feeling his stomach burn the way she said _his_ name. "It's not that late."

He closed his eyes for a second then reopened them, taking a breath. "Leifang, you have to sleep some time. Don't let me keep you up."

"We can walk around or something." She said stubbornly, tugging his hands.

He kissed her softly on the lips, chuckling and Andy gritted his teeth angrily.

Jann Lee smiled, tapping her nose. "You always were the stubborn one."

"Always am and always will be." She said proudly, giggling softly.

They put their heads together, and Jann Lee whispered cajolingly, "it won't be that long till we see each other again. I promise Leifang, now get some sleep." He kissed her forehead then, taking only 1 hand this time as they left the courtyard together, and left Andy together.


	7. The Omen

**Chapter 7: The Omen**

_Her arms continuously pumped by her sides as she ran, her adrenaline fast and fierce, fueling her body. Her breathing came in short breaths as she tried to conserve as much energy as possible. She ran up the steps as fast as she could, her high heels making loud echoes as she did so. _

_She ran down the corridor, trying the door as she went, but all of them were either locked or rusted too much, that it was impossible to open them anymore. She continued down the hall passing dark, inhabited jail cells when she turned the corner. _

_The air around her had a dry, musty smell to it and she cringed in disgust. The bar sealed windows let cold, frigid air enter the jail house causing her to shiver; dressed only in her white dress and nothing else. _

_She jumped about a foot when she heard a window behind her break and also heard a hoarse cry interrupt the silent air. She urged her legs to take longer strides, but they wouldn't obey and instead she was forced to slow down to a stop, gasping for air. _

_She turned to face her attacker - but there was no one there. No shards of glass anywhere, no person, no anything. It was quiet. _

_Too quiet. _

_Warily, she scrutinized her surroundings, looking all around her, but found nothing once more. Growing uneasy, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes tiredly, and swiveled around to continue walking. _

_She let out a horrified scream when she saw the soulless black eyes staring back at her, unnaturally large on the pale, stone, cold face. _

"_No," she shook her head desperately backing away from the creature. "You're not real. I'm only dreaming. You're not real." She repeated. _

_The tall figure smiled, showing its sharp teeth. "Don't lie to yourself Leifang." It hissed. "I am as real as you." It took a step towards her and right before her eyes, it seemed to multiply into 4 other tall figures, all 4 of them surrounding her and enveloping her in a mist of darkness. _

"_It's time you learned Leifang." The leader said, taking another step towards her. _

"_Not so fast."_ That voice...could it be? _Leifang and the rest of the figures turned to look at the newcomer who stood some 10 feet behind the leader._

Jann Lee! What was he doing here?

"_You're not laying one hand on her as long as I'm alive." Jann Lee growled dangerouslyy, looking absolutely murderous with his fists clenched and eyes narrowed. _

_The leader laughed. "And what will you do? You're merely a weak, fragile, pathetic human like this girl. Try as you might, but you can not hurt us." _

_Jann Lee gnashed his teeth together. "Why fight her? Are you afraid to fight someone your own size?" he sneered. _

_It let out a hiss, scowling furiously. "Run now while you can human. Save us both the time - for you can't win."_

"_If you're so certain that you're going to win - then fight me." _

"_Jann Lee," Leifang whispered hesitantly, her chocolate brown eyes wide with worry. _

"_Stay out of this Leifang." Jann Lee muttered tensely, posed for battle. _

"_The human is right," the leader said to Leifang. "If you want to live - then shut your mouth." _

_She clenched her tiny fists, but said nothing, her jaw tightening. _

"_Let's play for keeps," Jann Lee went on. "If I defeat you, then you give me Leifang, but if you defeat me…" he swallowed. "You get to have Leifang."_

"_Deal," the leader said immediately, confident of his victory. _

"_No, Jann." Leifang said, feeling panic overwhelm her. There was no way he could win. _

"_Silence!" the leader snapped, back-handing her across the face._

_She cried out, the force driving her to the ground. With an enraged roar, Jann Lee threw himself at his enemy, but ended up falling heavily to the ground, passing right through him. _

_He turned on his heel, to face the leader once more who had materialized from behind him. It cocked its fist back and before Jann could defend himself, punched him square in the nose, breaking it. Blood spurted out, but Jann ignored the wound, whipping around to build up momentum and then cuffed the leader in the face._

_It shrieked in pain recoiling from the blow. But there was not red blood seeping out through his nose, but black. Growling furiously, it advanced once more. _

_Rolling away to avoid another blow, Jann threw a flying kick at it, and it was knocked backwards, but quickly regained its balance much to his dismay. Coming in with a following punch, the leader ducked this time and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back, causing Jann to swear in pain. _

_Timing his move carefully, Jann was able to counter the attack by flinging the leader over his shoulder, sending him flying across the room. It hit the stone floor, but got up like nothing had happened. _

_The 2 continued to circle each other, occasionally throwing punches at each other, but kept their distances while Leifang scooted to the farthest wall. She felt her way across the cold floor when she came upon a pair of feet, blocking her path. Looking up, one of the other figures stood in front of her, smiling gleefully. _

He's cheating! He can't attack me, he made a deal…oh no, _she finally saw the flaw in the deal Jann had made. Only the leader had accepted the challenge, none of the others had been given any instruction whatsoever. _

That means, _she thought, her head feeling woozy just as it grabbed her around the neck, yanking her to her feet. _

"_No!" she screamed; kicking and punching, but she wasn't able to hurt him as he absorbed all of her hits, feeling nothing. _

"_Leifang!" Jann Lee shouted from across the room. "No, please! Don't hurt her! Stop!" _

_The leader slammed his fist into his ear and Jann Lee crumpled almost instantly, while Leifang screeched for help, choking midway. _

"_Sweet dreams." It said, chuckling softly and squeezing her neck in its grip._

No, this isn't real, _was her last thought_. Is it?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leifang bolted, clutched her sheets into a tight grip, and panted wildly. _It was just a dream. Just a dream. _Still, she felt an overwhelming desire to see if Jann really was okay and hastily got dressed. While in the process of fixing her hair, she looked at the clock to see that it read 9 o'clock.

She ran to the bathroom and brushed her teeth and then ran downstairs towards the courtyard when she almost ran over Amber who was exiting the courtyard as where a lot of people. _What was going on?_

"Hey, where are you heading?' Leifang asked her breathlessly and then motioned to the throng of students exiting the courtyard. "And you're friends?"

Amber eyed her, raising her eyebrow at her frazzled appearance.

"I thought I was going to miss breakfast." She lied smoothly.

"Uh huh." Amber said, unconvinced, but continued, her eyes brightening. "Rumor has it that a fight is going to happen outside the boy's dorm rooms. Wanna go check it out?"

_Uh oh._ Leifang felt her stomach sink, a bad feeling overwhelming her senses. "Whose fighting?"

"Don't know, but we will know if we go there." Amber said, looking excited, then noticed her friend's worried face. "You okay? You look like you're going to barf. I bet it's not that serious even of a fight. Probably like over 'who used my deodorant?' or some crap like that. But we don't have to go if you don't want to."

"No," Leifang said, already pulling her towards the boy's dorm room. "Let's go."

As they neared the corridor, the hallway became more packed until it was almost impossible to move around, but Leifang fought her way to the front, wondering where all the teachers were.

_Shouldn't they have been monitoring this kind of stuff so no one gets hurt? Or are they too lazy all because it's break? Jerks. _

"FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!" the students chorused and she pushed harder.

"Where are the others?" Leifang said to distract herself from thinking about Jann.

"Lisa and them? Oh, they're still in the courtyard, but they'd have caught up by now."

And as if on cue, Lisa, Melody, Hay Lin, and Ella pushed their way through the crowd and grabbed onto each other for support.

"Finally you're awake." Ella muttered, shooting scowls at anyone who tried to push her and they immediately backed off.

"Sorry," Leifang said, ashamed when she broke through to the front, bringing the girls up behind her to flank her as she absorbed the scene before her. Everything else seemed to blank out as she stared at the 2, even the crowd's voices couldn't break through.

It was in fact who she thought it would be. Jann Lee had Andy in a half-nelson, pummeling him with a flurry of fists while Andy was attacking him with him vicious blows to his abdomen with his knee. Neither of them seemed to notice the spectators whom had gathered around them to watch as Leifang watched helplessly, her mouth popping open.

Finally, Andy managed to tackle Jann to the ground, punching his face repeatedly while Jann tried to defend himself. Seeing her opportunity, Leifang sprang into the arena, grabbing hold of Andy's shirt just as the 2 finally noticed her.

She yanked his shirt with all her might in an attempt to pull Andy off of him when he got up himself, causing her to stumble. Andy caught her hastily and Jann Lee growled. Jumping to his feet, he pulled Leifang behind him, and punched Andy square in the face, causing his already bloody nose to run even more.

Both of them ignored Leifang as they went at it again. She tried to come in between them, but she wasn't able to in fear of accidently getting hit. Instead, she held her ground, then, timing her move ever so carefully, she grabbed both of their wrists, twisting them and then shoving them back from each other.

Both of them panted raggedly just as teachers burst through, ordering the other students to leave when finally, everyone was gone except for Leifang, Jann Lee who had one arm around her waist protectively, Andy who was seething, and the 6 security guards.

"What the h*** was going on here?" one of them snapped, his face red with fury.

Neither Jann nor Andy said anything but glumly stare at the floor. Leifang bit her lip when finally one of the security guards noticed her.

"Miss Leifang, I think it would be best if we talk to these 2 students alone." He said softly, taking her hand and prying her gently from Jann's grasp who reluctantly let her go. "I think it would be best if we discussed this privately."

"Seeya Leifang." Andy said casually, and Jann Lee had to restrain himself from tackling him. Just as the security guard grabbed both of Andy's and Jann's arms to keep any of that sort from happening.

Leifang nodded absently, not even looking at Andy, but gazed back helplessly at Jann whose shoulders were slumped. Sighing, she was escorted back to her dorm room corridor. The security guard parted, saying politely, "Have a good day," but she barely heard him.

Dimly, she remembered walking back to her room which was crowded with the 5 girls.

"What happened?!" Amber shrieked, the first one to speak. She leaped from her spot off the floor and grabbed Leifang by the shoulders, shaking her.

"I don't know, they wouldn't let me go with them - and will you _stop_?" Leifang snapped to Amber who was still shaking her. She immediately let go, pink splotches appearing on her cheeks.

"So, I guess we just have to wait now then." Leifang added dolefully, plopping down on her bed where Melody also sat.

"It's okay Leifang," Melody said sympathetically, smiling ruefully. "Jann Lee won't get suspended."

"How do you know?" Leifang pouted, turning angry. "I bet it was all stupid Andy's fault. He must have provoked Jann somehow. Ugh, I hate him so much."

"You don't know that!" Amber said that, her face turning red. "_He _didn't do anything. It was that _other_ guy - Jann Lee! He gets on everyone's nerves after all."

"How dare you!" Leifang snapped, jumping up, her fists curling. "Jann didn't do anything!"

"You have to admit Leifang," Lisa began. "Jann Lee is the type to let loose his anger."

Leifang rounded on her, her eyes blazing with fury.

Lisa held up her hands, "It's the truth Leifang and you know it."

Leifang opened her mouth to scream at her when Ella interrupted. "Shut up Lisa, and you too Amber. We'll just wait to find out what truly happened and then you can blame whoever you want to blame. But for right now…Let's just talk about something else."

"Yeah," Melody agreed quickly.

"Whatever," Lisa said, rolling her eyes.

Amber said nothing, turning away from the group to stare out the window while Leifang relapsed into a stony silence, absently fiddling with her hands and sitting back down.

Hay Lin sighed dramatically. "It's just a guy." She said quietly for Melody and Ella to hear, but Leifang was able to pick it up.

"He's not just a guy!" Leifang shouted, standing up and shocking everyone with her anger. "I saw him in my dreams! He-he…saved…me…" realizing how ridiculous she sounded, she shut up, blushing bright red.

It was silent for a moment.

"What are you talking about Leifang?" Ella said quietly.

She hung her head, sinking to the floor once more, not saying anything.

"Leifang," Melody said softly, moving to sit beside her friend. "What are you talking about? What dreams?"

Leifang raised her head, her face pale. "My dream. I was attacked by this gang-"

"Gang?" Ella cut in, frowning.

"The Black Hand." She said softly and a gasp went around the room. "Jann - he saved me. But the other dream…the one I had today…he wasn't able to…"

"What…?" Lisa whispered, her voice trailing off. Pure dread was written all over her face.

"Then what happened?" Ella said quietly, forcing the words out with some difficulty.

"I woke up."

It was silent once more.

"This isn't good." Ella said in a hushed tone. "Dreams of The Black Hand? That's an omen. This isn't good." She repeated.

"An omen?" Melody said, all the blood draining from her face. "But…of what?"

"I don't know." Ella said, getting frustrated while at the same time trying to decipher what the dream meant. She began to pace back and forth, rubbing her temples. Suddenly, her face snapped up and she focused intently upon Leifang's face, who fidgeted instinctively. "What happened to Jann Lee in your second dream?"

"He was hit," Leifang frowned, trying to remember the pieces which seemed to float away from her grasp. "I don't know if he died. But he was definitely hit."

Ella froze in her tracks. "If your protector dies too…oh no, Leifang, this isn't good." She stared at Leifang, her eyes enormous and filled with horror. "Why didn't you tell us about this before?"

"I didn't think it was important." Leifang thought, panicking. "What do I do? Do you know what it means?"

"No," Ella said shakily. "I only know what I was thought in my Ancient Chinese History Class. We have to tell the Director of the School."

"I don't know about this," Leifang thought, fighting back nausea.

"You don't look so well Leifang." Melody commented. "Maybe you should go to the nurse Leifang."

"I'm fine." She said tersely.

But with a subtle nod from Ella, Melody gently pulled Leifang to her feet, supporting her weight. She didn't protest and Melody said to the girls, "Tell the director, Mrs. Xu, about Leifang's dream, we'll be in the infirmary."

With a nod from everyone, Melody left the room with Leifang leaning heavily on her for support. They trudged the long journey to the hospital wing without passing anyone, their footsteps echoing throughout the halls. When they finally arrived, a nurse approached them hastily, looking worried.

"Is something wrong dears?" she stared at Leifang who looked extremely pale.

"Leifang's just feeling a little woozy, that's all." Melody answered.

"Well, alright." She took Leifang's hand and guided her to a room where a lone white bed sat. "You can rest here while I get the necessary medicines to help ease your stomach."

Saying that, she left and Leifang immediately shot up from her sitting position on the bed, moving towards the exit. Melody got up and quickly blocked her, looking stern.

"Where do you think you're going Leifang?" she demanded.

"To my room." Leifang retorted, just as haughtily. "I'm not staying here. I'm not sick. In fact, I feel perfectly fine. Now if you excuse me,"

"Leifang." She warned. "Stop being stupid and go lie back down."

"I don't need to be here."

"You're as pale as a sheet!" she scoffed.

"Are you making fun of my skin tone?" Leifang asked indignantly.

Melody rolled her eyes, roughly grabbed her friend's arm, and dragged her to the bed. "Just take the medicines and then we can leave. Stop being a baby."

"I'm not a baby." Leifang muttered stubbornly, pouting.

Melody ignored her just as the nurse reentered, a bottle in her hands.

"Now Leifang I need you to swallow this and you'll feel perfectly better." The nurse inquired soothingly.

Glancing irritatingly at Melody who nodded encouragingly, Leifang took the spoon and held it to her lips. She swallowed the cherry flavored remedy and almost immediately, she felt better. All of the nausea she was feeling before was gone.

_Wow, this stuff actually works,_ she admitted grudgingly to herself.

"Feel better?" Melody asked smugly.

Disregarding her friend's question, Leifang said thank you to the nurse who smiled politely, saying your welcome.

The 2 girls left the infirmary, neither of them saying anything for a while until something caught Leifang's eye.

"It's up!" she yelped, tugging a confused Melody with her to a poster tacked to a wall.

"What's up?"

"The list for the dance!" Leifang exclaimed, jumping up and down. She located Melody's name first who stood still as a stone. "You've got, hmm…ah ha! You've got Brian Long! Hurray for you! He's pretty cute. You'll 2 will have so much fun together!" she laughed, giving her friend a congratulations hug who looked disappointed. "Oh, cheer up. There's always next year."

With that, she searched for her name. Finding it, she looked to the right of it, to see who her pair would be and shrieked.

**I guess I made this one kind of obvious with the whole Jann + Andy fighting thing and all…oh well. I hope you like this one. And just fyi, I might not be able to post as quickly because of exam week, but I'll try to do my best. Please read and review!!!! **avatarlover777** **


	8. There is Nothing Else i Can Do

**Chapter 8: "There is nothing else I can do."**

"ANDY?!" Leifang screeched. "Oh no! Please let it not be him! I'll take _any_one but him! NO!" checking the list once, twice, multiple times didn't help the situation. The name next to hers still read Andy, a grueling fact she would have to face.

Swiveling around to face a shocked and almost envious Melody, she said defiantly, "I'm not going to the dance."

"What?" Melody cried. "But you have to! I'm only going because you are!"

"I can't go with Andy though." Leifang sighed. "I wanted to go to. I had my dress and everything picked out like _months_ before. But, I'm with Jann now. And it doesn't feel right."

"Well then can't you just go with Jann instead?"

"I can't!" Leifang grumbled, her shoulders slumping. "I don't think he's even into dances and besides, you can't take someone there already. It's all about meeting other people."

"But then what about the other couples?" Melody insisted.

"You have to make reservations from before since you're not going to be on the list and stuff."

"There has to be some other way." She muttered, looking thoughtful. "Let's first just go and talk with the organizers of the dance and if they can't do anything about it, we'll think of something else."

"Okay," Leifang mumbled without much hope.

They headed towards the room where the dance committee used as their office when they bumped into Lisa.

"There you 2 are!" she said, looking relieved. Grabbing their arms, she began tugging them towards the main office. "Mrs. Xu needs to talk to you."

Leifang paled once more, but before she could say anything, Lisa interrupted.

"Hey look! The dance list is up! I have to remember to check it later. Right now we have to go to the office. They sent me to go and look for you guys."

"It's going to be okay Leifang." Melody assured her, who looked like she was about to puke.

"Yeah," Lisa joined in. "She was shocked at first, but she knows what to do. You'll be fine - promise - quit worrying."

Leifang took a deep breath to calm her nerves and nodded to the girls. They took either side of her and the 3 of them hurried to Mrs. Xu's office. When they entered, all 3 girls were already sitting down with Mrs. Xu at the head of the desk looking very calm and confident.

"Ladies," she greeted them, nodding to them as they responded with different choruses of 'hellos.' Mrs. Xu stared intently upon Leifang who immediately cast her eyes down, feeling her cheeks warm up.

They settled down and for a couple of seconds and the room was quiet except for the dull tick-tock sounds emanating from the grandfather clock.

"Leifang," Mrs. Xu said softly and Leifang was forced to look up from her lap. She sighed, her eyes kind and gentle and filled with years of wisdom.

"Is it true?" she paused. "Your dreams…?"

"Yes," Leifang answered reluctantly; her voice small.

She paused again, looking at her entwined hands that sat upon the desk. "Can you tell me to the best of your abilities what happened?"

All the words seemed to tumble out of Leifang's mouth like a waterfall and she was forced to stop and take breaths while her audience practically swallowed in all of the information. When she finished there was another longer pause and Leifang stared at her hands, anxiously playing with the hem of her sweater or brushing her skirt down.

"When did these dreams start coming to you Leifang?" Mrs. Xu asked quietly.

"Right when I came to this school." Leifang admitted grudgingly, hearing Ella and Melody gasp.

"Leifang! Why didn't you tell anyone?" Mrs. Xu admonished, her eyebrows furrowing.

"I didn't think it was anything important or weird." Leifang whispered, feeling close to tears. "I just thought it was nerves or something. That these dreams just happened to everyone."

Mrs. Xu sighed again and sat back in her chair. "The best I can do for you now is just to put in more security. There really is nothing else that I can do. It's in your hands now. I'll do what I can, but…I can't guarantee much. I'm sorry Leifang."

Leifang nodded, refusing to meet anyone's eyes still. "Do you know what will happen?"

"No." she answered painfully. "I can't predict anything of what will happen or will not happen."

Leifang nodded once more, her shoulders slumping.

"Wait," Mrs. Xu said suddenly, sitting up straight. "Does Mr. Jann Lee know about this?"

"No," she answered slowly, unsure of where she was heading.

With that, she promptly pushed a button on her desk and a speaker phone built into the desk answered her back.

"Yes?"

"Fetch Jann Lee for me. It's urgent."

"Alright."

The speaker phone closed and Mrs. Xu returned her attention back to the girls. "If Jann Lee is also having these dreams then we can take this dream seriously. If he is not having any sort of dreams then it is best if we never spoke about it again. Am I clear?"

"Yes," the girls chorused in unison.

She nodded her head.

They waited a few seconds in silence until the door opened with security escorting Jann in through the door, who looked irritated - that is until he saw Leifang and her friends. His eyebrows rose but Leifang was too embarrassed to say anything or look him in the eye.

"Please have a seat Mr. Lee." Mrs. Xu said in a business like tone.

He grabbed a seat nearby and brought it close next to Leifang, sitting down and ignoring her friends. He touched her arm slightly in effort of trying to comfort her when Mrs. Xu spoke once more.

"Mr. Lee, it has come to my attention that one of my students is having visions about you." She said rather bluntly and immediately saw him stiffen and grab Leifang's tiny hand in his own.

"Visions?" he asked in a bored tone, but everyone could see him tensing up.

"Possibly. She claims that although she did not see your face in past dreams, she believes it to be you." The director saw him squeeze her hand gently, but his face remained carefully composed. "She states that in her most recent dream that you were there and possibly killed in the act of saving her. She said that she herself was not able to escape the hands of The Black Hand."

With that, Jann sucked in a mouthful of air, his once carefully composed face now distorted and full of agony. He tried to speak but Mrs. Xu beat him to it, her expression much softer than it was before.

"So it's true." She said softly, studying his face. "You have been having visions too."

He looked at his hand that still held Leifang's hand and glanced up at her solemn face. Her brown eyes were shining bright but no tears were seen on her cheeks. He turned back to Mrs. Xu who was waiting for his agreement.

"Yes ma'am." He answered quietly.

"About who in specific?"

"Leifang," Jann looked at her when he said her name, feeling it hard to breathe.

"The best I may be able to do for you children is by adding more security, as I said earlier to Leifang." Mrs. Xu said in a grave voice. "There is nothing else I can do."

Another realm of silence seemed to envelope the room.

"Ma'am?"

"Yes, Jann Lee?"

"Shouldn't we have kept this a secret?" he asked pointedly, trying not be too rude, although it usually didn't bother him to be so.

"It is." She turned to face the other girls, a stern expression on her face. "I want no word about this to anyone. Am I clear ladies?"

They nodded their heads, shooting Jann venomous glares while he simply ignored them.

"Then you 7 are dismissed." She said promptly and all 7 of them got up. "And Leifang?"

Leifang stopped to turn back to Mrs. Xu.

"Come to me if you have any other problems. I'm here anytime you need me to talk about your visions. Or of anything else. Alright?"

"Yes ma'am." She said so quietly that even Jann hadn't heard what she had said even though he was standing right next to her.

Mrs. Xu, on look of seeing her lips moves, said, "Take care then."

Jann was at the door first and held it open for Leifang and for the others, reluctantly. They left the central office with a security guard passing by, shooting Jann Lee a stern look, but otherwise ignoring him and giving the girls polite nods.

Right when he was out of hearing, Amber burst out, "I'm so sorry Leifang!"

Leifang looked at her in surprise, unsure of what to say.

"I'm sorry for being a such a jerk to you! I didn't know about _that_. You should've told us earlier about it." She said breathlessly as is she had been waiting all throughout the meeting to apologize.

"It's okay," Leifang smiled sweetly, her cheeks turning pink.

But Amber rushed her, giving her a big hug that forced an irritable Jann to unwrap his arm around Leifang's waist.

Then all 4 of the girls were giving Leifang hugs, saying words of encouragement that did nothing but sting her heart more. When they finally let go of her, Lisa stepped up to Leifang and gave her wink, smiling widely.

"I have some extra homework I still need to do. Can you girls help me?"

"Sure," the girls said to her, giving Leifang secret smiles and left for the dorm rooms, laughing.

"They're so immature." Leifang giggled softly but stopped when she saw Jann's somber face.

"Jann," she whispered, touching his arm.

He stared back into her eyes, his eyes harder than ever before to read.

_Do_ not_ cry! I order you to not cry Leifang! Not in front of him! You will not -!_

Jann had swooped down and planted his lips firmly on hers, but the kiss was too hard and Leifang was forced to pull away in fear of his actions.

"Jann?" she asked sadly, stroking his face while he wrapped his arms around her tightly, bringing her close to him. "It'll be fine. Everything will work out."

Still he said nothing and she was about to continue when she choked and burst out crying, unable to control herself anymore. _Who am I kidding? Nothing is okay anymore. They don't let anyone survive. _

Jann kissed her softly this time with some effort, not breaking the kiss until they were both breathing raggedly. He hugged her to his chest, resting his chin on her head, kissing it briefly. They stood there for a moment together with their arms wrapped around each other, swaying ever so softly.

Jann brought her chin up and kissed her again and again, but nothing could take away the sorrow and agony that filled his chest. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He vowed, quieting Leifang with a touch of his lips to hers when she tried to object. "They're not going to take away the only person in the world I care about. They can rot in h*** for all I care for. No one is going to hurt you Leifang. I promise." With that, he forced her up against a nearby wall, but being gentle about it, and kissed her tear streaked face.

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The shadow watched as the tall handsome man advance on the fragile beautiful girl, kissing her hard and pushing her up against the wall. It stared at the 2 with cold emotionless eyes, saying nothing as the 2 finally pulled apart and walked hand-in-hand back to the boy's dorm room where they would probably stay for a while.

It followed them with quiet footsteps until indeed the shadow was right and the 2 of them entered Jann Lee's room. The door locked behind them and the shadow dissipated abruptly as quickly as it had appeared, leaving no trace behind.


	9. The Day of the Dance

**Chapter 9: The Day of the Dance**

For the rest of the day Jann and Leifang hung out around the school. Students were allowed back into the halls and every single poster hung up on the walls were crowded with over-exuberant students.

But no one seemed to notice the pair who wandered the halls freely, going to lunch together and studying together.

A couple of times Leifang saw Lisa and Amber spying on her during the day, which caused Leifang to blush every time she caught them, because they always seemed to be there right when Jann would bend in to kiss her.

He would ignore the girls even though he too knew they were there and tried to obstruct their view by blocking Leifang with his body. Later, they would laugh about it, hearing the 2 swear and grumble.

And to Jann's annoyance, they saw Andy throughout the day too, who always gave Leifang a sunny smile that was never returned. Instead, Jann would always try to steer away from him in the other direction and Andy, as if he hadn't noticed Jann, would casually call out to Leifang who would give mumbled replies back.

None of them talked about it afterwards, but Jann's grip around her hand would tighten and then eventually relax. They explored the rest of the school alone and then went to dinner later in the afternoon.

They entered the courtyard which was packed as usual with excited murmurs about the dance tomorrow and Leifang tried her best to ignore them, her shoulders slumping at the thought of not being able to go.

_And I still have to cancel my pairing with Andy. Don't want to give him the wrong impression. Come to think of it…maybe that's why he was smug before. Oh man, I have to cancel soon before this gets out of hand._

Apparently Jann noticed her change in mood as they grabbed their food from the dinner buffet which was located all around the room. They found a seat to themselves and settled down. Leifang was just biting into her ravioli when Jann spoke.

"I'll talk to Mrs. Xu about it." He said simply.

"What?" she paused in her eating, looking at him in surprise.

"You want to go to the dance right?" he stared at her with intense eyes.

"Um," she bit her lip, her cheeks turning pink.

"I'll talk to her about it and see if she can get us in."

"Okay." She said, her face brightening, causing Jann to smile also. She frowned suddenly. "But do you want to go? I mean if you don't want to go then we don't have to. I was just thinking that perhaps maybe you wanted to go. I'm sorry, I'm being selfish aren't I? I should have thought if you wanted to go then…" she trailed off, noticing her rambling, and blushed scarlet. She ducked her head down out of embarrassment.

Jann smiled and lifted her chin so that she was forced to meet his eye. "Then can _I_ ask if you would want to go to the dance with me? Since it is _my_ responsibility to ask the girl, am I right?" he smirked and she smiled too, laughing softly.

"You're right. I would love to go to the dance with you Jann." Her smile glowed with happiness.

"Well, I guess that's settled then." He said, grinning.

The 2 ate slowly, enjoying each others company until finally it was time for the 2 of them to go to bed. The courtyard was almost empty except for the 2 of them and they walked hand in hand back to Leifang's room. Jann dropped her off right at the foot of her door. He kissed her, bringing her closer to him, and wrapping his arms around her. She draped her arms around his neck and they kissed more deeply until they heard a cough behind Jann Lee.

The 2 of them instantly pulled apart with a security guard watching them in amusement with his arms folded across his chest.

"Please restrict yourself from showing PDA again Mr. Lee." The security guard growled.

Jann sighed but nodded respectfully.

"What are you doing down here anyway? The girl's hallway is restricted."

"Sir?" Jann raised his eyebrows, staring at him pointedly.

"I'm a security guard." The man snapped and turned to Leifang who was hidden behind Jann Lee. "Goodnight Miss Leifang."

"'Night." She mumbled, turning even redder then before. She ducked into her room and locked it, pressing her ear against the door to listen to their conversation.

"Mrs. Xu will like to speak to you."

"Again?"

"_Again."_ The security guard snapped irritatingly. With that, she heard him and Jann march down the hallway toward the office.

Smiling briefly, she quickly undressed and got into bed; the feel of Jann's lips still fresh on hers.

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The morning was absolute chaos in the girl's hallway.

They were running up and down the hallway and into bathrooms, trying to prepare for the dance at 7 pm. Groggily, Leifang remembered getting up and heading for the bathroom, but every thing after that was a blur.

She had returned to see all 5 of the girls crowded in her room again, all of them wearing different facial expressions ranging from pure happiness to pure frustration. They had their make up and outfits in hand, ready to dress up and experiment.

"What's the big deal anyways?" Hay Lin muttered, turning annoyed. "It's just a stupid dance."

"It is not just a stupid dance!" Amber exclaimed. "It is also a time of fun and excitement. A time where you finally get your flirt on!"

"So you're basically admitting it's stupid?" Hay Lin muttered drily.

Ella rolled her eyes at their quibbling. "I get to go with Andrew! He is so cute! I can't believe I actually get to go with the person I've always dreamed of going to a dance with. This is just too good!"

"Easy for you to say," Lisa muttered. "I'm going with some guy I've never even heard of. I bet he's ugly. And his name is just eew!"

"His name?" Melody asked incredulously. "You're worried about his _name?"_

Lisa gave her a 'what?' face.

"Oh my gosh." Melody said, turning away from her to look at her eye shadow selection. "Who knew putting on make up could be so much fun?"

"Wow." Leifang said, smiling at her friend. "I never thought I would ever hear you say that Melody. You of all people. I just wish that you could get Hay Lin to say that."

"In your dreams." Hay Lin sneered, hearing their conversation.

"Darn," Leifang said quietly and Melody laughed.

"So?" Melody asked, jumping a little with excitement. "What are you going to wear?"

"Well I have my dress already picked out and stuff." Leifang answered, opening up her walk-in closet and pulled out her dress which was a beautiful silky white dress in a kimono style.

"Ooh!" Melody gasped, touching the fabric. "Wow, it's beautiful!"

She smiled at her friend's admiration. "I thought that I could possibly dress to impress other guys if I didn't like the person I would be going with."

"Oh, right." Melody said, smirking and putting her hands on her hips. "Well we all know _you_ like Jann, so there's no problem in that."

She rolled her eyes. "You know, you're starting to scare me Melody. You're turning more into Lisa and Amber as we speak."

Melody just giggled. "Whatever!"

All 6 of the girls dressed and redressed with each of them admiring each others dresses and make up until they ordered lunch to Leifang's room and ate their subs, chatting nonstop.

Finally, the time had arrived and the girls departed, going back to their separate rooms to change and to get ready.

Leifang was busy fixing her hair into its original braids, tying the loose strands with white ribbon Lisa had forced her to wear. Satisfied with her appearance, she put on the necessary make up, trying not to overdue the makeup when a knock was heard at her door.

Finishing up her make up, she opened the door to find Andy standing outside. He was carrying a bouquet of roses, wearing a dressy yet simple white shirt with a bold red tie and black pants.

"Hey Leifang!" he greeted her with a cheerful smile, handing her the flowers. He looked at her up and down even though she wasn't in her dress, his eyebrows raised in awe. "Wow. Leifang…I don't know what to say. You look absolutely beautiful!"

Leifang flushed a deep scarlet, stunned by his appearance. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cho down the hallway staring open-mouthed at the 2. Flabbergasted, she took the flowers to be polite.

_When I shouldn't be. He hurt Jann. I have to end this right here and right now. With Cho watching so she can know I don't like him._

"Look, Andy-" she began, combing her bangs back to stall for time when he interrupted her.

"Hey, I know." He said, smiling and holding out his hands. "I just wanted to say thanks for being such a good friend."

_What?_ "Um," was all she could say. _Friend? I practically ignore him everyday!_

"Yeah. Jann Lee never liked me, but you always remained polite to me. And the fight yesterday? Thanks for breaking it up, I thought Jann Lee was about to murder me."

_And he should have._ "Uh, yeah. Your welcome?"

"Yeah, he just went berserk you know?" Andy went on conversationally. "He thinks he's so hot all the time, so I said a few words, and the next thing I know, I'm on the ground and he's pummeling me like a, like a-"

"Yeah, I got it, thanks Andy." She said, smiling sweetly, trying to hint oh so subtly it was time for him to leave.

"Yeah." He said, smiling, but she could see it wasn't a true smile. Something was bugging him. _But what?_ "Well, I'll see you at the party then right?"

"Uh huh." Leifang mumbled. "Bye."

After that, he smiled and left and Leifang felt her shoulders slump. _Oh, now how am I supposed to get rid of him? He's really nice and sweet, and I don't want to hurt his feelings. Crap. _

Taking a deep breath, she tried to forget about Andy and went back inside her room, shutting the door, all too aware of Cho watching her with suspicious eyes the entire time. She dumped the roses into her trash can and returned to her vanity dresser, fixing her hair, frowning slightly while doing so.

Finally, she slipped into her dress, feeling excited and giddy. She put on her white heels and for a moment, she was reminded of her dream. She quickly dispersed the thought. _Relax Leifang. Today is your day. Nothing is going to ruin this day. Not Andy or the omen. It's all about me and Jann. _

Adding a few more touch ups, she hastily put extra cosmetic supplies into her silver sequin clutch. Taking a deep breath, she turned to her door and opened it, to see all of her friends, looking absolutely stunning in their gowns, piled outside her door.

"Just in time." Melody grinned, taking her friend's arm. "I was just about to knock."

"To the courtyard!" Amber and Lisa shouted, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

The 6 girls walked to the courtyard with the rest of the girls from other dorm rooms following. The hall was noisy with all the chatter with everyone excited about their dates.

"See? Isn't this worthwhile Hay Lin?" Amber smiled, nudging her. "And you wanted to stay locked up in your room all gloomy and stuff."

Hay Lin scowled at her, but said nothing, a permanent frown etched across her face.

Finally, all the girls had made it outside of the courtyard where the dance committee stood outside the gates. All 6 girls had clipboards in their hands, calling out names in alphabetical order and their pairs. Amber was the first one to go and she walked boldly to the gate, smiling nervously.

Suddenly, a handsome young man walked up to her and took her arm and Amber looked like she was about to faint. She simply stared at him, not believing her luck when he smiled and playfully tugged her towards the gate doors.

The gates officially opened and a loud burst of music hit the students. The courtyard was largely decorated, complete with an appetizer bar and tables for couples set around the fountains. Candle lights were illuminated throughout the courtyard, giving the hall a romantic and elegant look yet still appropriate enough to match the mood and music.

"Wow!" Melody breathed next to Leifang, gripping her friend's arm. "This is amazing Leifang! I've never seen the courtyard so, so, _beautiful!_"

Leifang laughed as more and more students names were called. Hay Lin's name was called next and she couldn't help but smile, looking at her date. He took her hand, smiling mischievously. After another round of names were called, Lisa and her date went in and then it was Ella's turn who looked like she was about to explode with nerves.

When Melody's name was called, she paled with exhilaration, yanking Leifang. "Oh my gosh, Leifang. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh."

"You'll do fine!" Leifang giggled, shoving her friend towards her date who looked like a shy yet extremely cute guy. Leifang immediately felt happy for her friend - for all of her friends - for getting the dream dates they wanted. _And now…it's my turn._

"Leifang!" one of the girls shouted above the noise. She peered at her clipboard one more time, checking the name. "And Andy!"

_WHAT?!_

Andy proudly stood forward, gazing at Leifang with awe. She remained rooted in her spot, too shocked to move.

"B-but…!" she sputtered, but no one heard her.

The next name was called and this time Jann's name was called and Leifang immediately turned to see who he was paired with.

There was a moments pause until one girl shouted, "Cho!"

A smug looking came across Cho's face as she lifted her chin boldly, walking up to where Jann was standing. His eyebrows were raised as he stared at Leifang who looked back at him helplessly. Cho roughly grabbed his arm, pulling him to her, her mischievous smile causing acid to burn inside of Leifang. But Jann frowned dangerously, yanking his arm from her and walking away from her and towards one of the girls of the dance committee.

Andy appeared in front of Leifang automatically, smiling happily. He took hold of her hands saying, "Well, we should get going, shouldn't we?"

Leifang snapped out of her daze and immediately shot him down. "No! Why won't you just leave me alone? Are you too blind to notice that I'm dating Jann?"

Andy's face darkened. "And what about you? Are _you_ too blind to notice that if you hang around Jann the omen will come true?"

"What?" she looked at him in shock, her eyes widening. "How do you know about…?"

He looked back at her in astonishment, realizing that the words had come out his own mouth. He staggered forward, shaking his head slowly. "I didn't mean that…"

"Who _are_ you?" she asked him, taking a step back just as Jann Lee appeared.

Jann looked between them, his mouth half open to interrupt.

"I, I….I have to, to go…" Andy spun around, his eyes wild and ran back in direction of the boys' dorm room.

"What was that about?" Jann asked her, looking bewildered.

She turned to him in wordless fear. "He knows." Leifang whispered.

"What?" he automatically took a step forward, putting his arms around Leifang and lifting her chin to meet his eyes. "What does he know?"

"The omen."

"_What?_" Jann stared at her in alarm. "Are you sure that's what he said?"

"Yes." She rested her head on his chest, mumbling into his shirt. "He said that if I hang around you the omen will come true."

There was silence between them as the rest of the couples entered the courtyard, paying no attention to them. Cho, on the other hand, was off in a corner sulking while the rest of her friends gathered around her with solemn expressions. Jann wordlessly lead Leifang towards a dark corner just outside of the courtyard, his arms never once leaving her waist.

Once they were sure that they were alone, Jann let all of his attention focus on Leifang. "You should just ignore him. He doesn't know what he's talking about. You'll be fine with me. I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

Leifang nodded, looking up.

They kissed softly, enjoying the moment. Jann pulled back. "Do you want to go to the party or do you want to just walk around?"

She thought for second. "I'm not really in a partying mood anymore. You just want to walk around?"

"Okay." Jann took her hand and they began to walk away from the courtyard doors. They wandered through the hallways, climbing stairs and turning corners, until they were at the far south of the campus, away from the blaring music that shook the walls.

"It's so peaceful." Leifang murmured softly, touching one of the paintings that hung on the wall.

"Yeah," Jann said back in a hushed tone. They walked towards one of the tall windows that showed a view of the snowy field. Feeling yet happy again, the 2 of them began to walk back towards the courtyard. They turned a corner almost running into Andy.

Immediately, Jann pushed Leifang behind him and rolled his sleeves up, glaring at Andy who stood in front of them with a blank face.

"Leave. _Now_," Jann threatened him, his fists curling reflexively.

Andy continued to stare at him, his face paler than usual. He said and did nothing, but it only made Jann angrier.

"Why won't you leave Leifang alone?" he demanded from him.

When Andy said nothing, Jann finally lost his temper. He cocked his fist back and meant to punch Andy in the face, but Andy caught it, and swung his own fist back and punched Jann in the face. He staggered back and Leifang let out a low gasp of surprise, but Jann ignored her and pushed her farther away from them.

Jann once more ran at Andy with his fist outstretched, but Andy merely ducked, grabbing his arm and slamming Jann to the ground. Then Andy swiveled around to face Leifang who took a step back, her mouth opening in a silent scream as she saw his irises swirl and turn a soulless black. His features seemed to morph before her eyes and eventually turn to look exactly like the creature from her nightmares.

"The omen will come true." He hissed and with that, he lunged for her.


	10. Unfair Deal

**Chapter 10: Unfair Deal**

Leifang gave a gasp of pure terror as she immediately dove out of the way, feeling her chest constrict with panic. She hit the ground, her dress ripping slightly at the slits in her dress. She whipped around to face Andy who had landed to her left. He got back up slowly and Leifang hastily crawled away from him, heading towards Jann, who began to sit up.

Andy turned to face them, his red glassy eyes stopping on Leifang's the longest. Leifang cringed, but Jann rested his hand on her knee to reassure her. She looked to him with worry etched across her face as he got up and extended a hand towards her. She took it and the 2 of them glared at Andy.

He finally turned back to Jann an expression of glee coming over his face. He stared for half of a second at Jann before making his move. Jann saw it in Andy's eyes and immediately shoved Leifang out of the way. Leifang was rammed into the wall just as Andy leapt at Jann, tackling him to the ground.

In a flurry of fists Jann was able to make out, "Leifang, get out of here! Go and tell Mrs. Xu! Hurry!"

Leifang, however, remained defiant, her lips turning into a pout with her voice quivering. "I'm not leaving you!"

"LEIFANG!" Jann bellowed angrily just as Andy's fist smashed into his jaw. Jann's head snapped to the side and Leifang couldn't help but scream, but she saw Jann turn to face Andy like nothing had happened. Bloodlust was in his eyes as he grabbed a fist full of Andy's hair and punched him flat out in the nose. Blood spurted out of his nose as Andy let out a low deep ugly growl.

Leifang could only watch helplessly as she saw Andy smash his fist into Jann's face repeatedly. She winced with each punch until she finally made up her mind to interfere.

_If it was me out there, Jann would do the same no matter what happened. And now I have to do it too._

Feeling brave, she boldly launched herself at Andy just as Jann shouted, "NO!"

They landed on the ground with Leifang on top. She jabbed her knee into his chest, cocked her fist back and punched Andy with as much force as she could muster. Her fist connected with his already broken nose, his blood soaking her hand. She pulled her hand back as his head reeled from the shock and she stared at her hand in surprise.

For the first time she felt free and independent, expressing herself in a way that was once forbidden to her. She felt strong; the power to do more overcome her as she, once more, brought back her fist and swooped down upon her victim.

Her fist was just about to make contact, but this time Andy was prepared and he grabbed her fist. Pushing her fist aside, he roughly shoved her off of him. She fell on her back as Andy got to his feet, stalking towards her with a furious snarl. He swung his leg back, but right when he was about to aim a vicious kick at her side, Jann had grabbed him from behind, attempting to strangle him.

Leifang shot up when once again Jann shouted at her to leave. This time, she obliged, her heart aching as she ran off down the corridor to find help. She glanced over her shoulder to see that Andy had driven his elbow into Jann's chest and then brought up his knee to Jann's stomach. He groaned and dropped to the floor, clutching his abdomen.

Feeling tempted to stop, she saw Andy kick Jann, who moaned and then turn to Leifang, smiling. Barely suppressing a shiver, she urged herself to run faster, turning her attention back to where she was heading.

BAM! She came to a sudden halt as she ran into Andy who seemed to materialize in front of her.

_My dream!_ Was all she could think of as Andy sneered at her with fury in his murderous eyes.

"And where do you think _you're _going, _princess_?" Andy hissed, grabbing her wrists. "You're the star of the show! Why leave so early?!"

"Let go!" Leifang cried, feeling her wrists turning blue as the circulation got cut off.

Andy laughed, shoving her back so that she was thrown onto the floor. She scrambled away from him desperately, but he stepped on her dress, holding her in place. Leifang looked up at him in horror, feeling as if she was in her nightmare once more.

_I can't give up! Not yet!_ She tried to shove his foot off of her dress but he wouldn't budge, only sneering down at her with pleasure as she struggled helplessly.

"Having trouble?" he scoffed, picking his foot up and slamming it against her ribs. She let out a stifled scream as she felt her ribs burn with anguish where he had kicked her. She wrapped her arms around her rib cage, curling into a fetal position as Andy kicked her again, but this time in the back. Her back exploded in agony as she recoiled from the kick, trying to soothe her aching body at the same time.

Andy once more came down with a stomp this time, but Leifang was ready. She grasped his foot just before it made contact with her face and she twisted it away with as much strength as she could muster. He was thrown off balance, but quickly regained it to face Leifang once more who had also staggered to her feet, clutching her middle with obvious pain.

"What do you want from me?" she gasped, feeling her chest constrict with pain as even breathing became harder to do.

His eyes narrowed, his pale sickly face glowing amongst his dark hair and vibrant red eyes. "For you to be _dead_." He spat, his hands curling into fists as he once more lunged at Leifang.

She sucked in a deep breath as he spoke and right when he dove at her, she felt the power once more swell inside of her as she grabbed his arm as he soared past her. She pulled in her knee, slamming it up against his stomach so that he flipped upside down. He slammed into a nearby wall and Leifang immediately came running up to him, ramming her shoulder into his back when he began to slide down the wall onto the floor.

Andy dropped to the ground, his breathing slightly ragged. She took no notice of this, only feeling more powerful than she had ever felt in days. Leifang advanced and stomped on his leg as he was still down, causing him to howl in pain as her heel pierced his skin. Although before she could take another shot at him, Andy rolled out of the way, swiftly getting to his feet. Although before he could make any moves, out of nowhere, Jann Lee came running up behind him, ramming his foot into the small of his back.

He went flying through the air, past Leifang who had ducked just in time, and right into the wall once more. He fell but this time got up more quickly than he had before, his red eyes pulsing even more with anger and hatred.

Jann immediately pushed Leifang out of the way, but she didn't budge, giving him a glare. When he backed off, Leifang gave a nod in his direction. Jann sighed heavily but nodded in return, confusing Andy of their agreements. He hissed angrily, feeling his anger boiling inside of him and shot ahead, ramming his shoulder into Jann Lee's stomach, but he was too slow for him.

Jann moved to the side just as Andy advanced, leaving him vulnerable as both Jann and Leifang grabbed his arms, twisted it around to his back and gave a powerful kick to the small of his back. Andy was thrust forward with so much force that he fell heavily to the ground, landing flat on his face.

Jann and Leifang shared a discreet smug smile, but Andy was back on his feet in no time. This time he lunged for Leifang, but she ducked, moving out of the way so that Jann could come in and jam him palm into Andy's jaw.

His head snapped back with a satisfactory crack but he just went with the momentum of the punch and swung himself around to cuff Jann in the face with a weak punch. Jann swerved around, stumbling slightly, but regained his balance and went immediately for the chokehold on Andy who was in perfect position.

The two fought as Jann tried to loop his arm around Andy's neck but he was unable to as Andy squirmed furiously, finally maneuvering out of his grasp. Jann stumbled but caught himself to look up and find that Leifang hadn't been the lucky one.

Andy had one arm partly covering her mouth and the other half choking her. His other arm held her tight so she couldn't escape, but she tried to escape nonetheless. She screamed, but it was muffled, and came out as squeak instead. Jann immediately roared, his brown eyes turning an ugly black with his hands curling into lethal fists.

"_Let go of her_." He said in deadly whisper, but Andy merely chuckled, tightening his grip on Leifang. "_NOW._"

This time Andy's smile thinned and he sneered. "Accept your unconditional surrender - and _then_ we'll talk. Sound fair?"

"You are of in no position to bargain." He snapped, taking one step towards them.

But he spoke too soon, as he watched in horror; Andy began to squeeze his hold on Leifang's neck. She coughed and sputtered, her face turning slightly pink when Jann shook himself out of his faze, shouting, "STOP!"

Andy immediately stopped, smirking. "How about now?"

He paused, taking in a deep breath. "Fine. What do I have to do?"

"We fight - and whoever wins gets the girl. Deal?"

"What do you want with her?" Jann asked, disgust in his voice.

"_Deal_?" he pressed, beginning to close his grip once more on Leifang, whose eyes widened in fear.

"Yes! Now leave her alone!"

"Remember - _un_conditional surrender." Andy repeated once more, smiling gleefully.

Jann stared back, trying to figure out what was going on in his head, but he couldn't. _He wouldn't take Leifang right? It's what we agreed to. So why do I feel like I'm missing something important?_ Shaking himself out of his pessimistic thoughts, he focused on Andy who loosened his grasp on Leifang.

She stopped squirming, her face pale with fright as Andy let her go. She ran over to Jann who hugged her tightly, lifting her off of the ground.

He crushed her to him, taking in her scent and feeling her soft hair. He lifted her chin up so she was forced to meet his gaze and Jann kissed her with determination, feeling confident. She looped her arms around him and they shared a passionate moment where they both deepened the kiss until Jann was forced to pull away.

Leifang swallowed, her lips forming a pouting expression, telling Jann with her eyes that she didn't like the deal. He kissed her once more on the forehead and, and then gently pushed her behind him.

Jann once more turned to Andy who had a gloating expression on his face. Jann, overcome with anger, rushed him, slamming his fist into Andy's jaw. Andy swiftly grabbed Jann's fist before he could hurt him and twisted his arm behind his back.

"This was easier than I thought." He sneered, pausing to smirk at Jann who tried to twist around to sock Andy, but he had a firm grip on Jann.

Andy slammed his fist into his back, savoring the moment as he yelled in pain. He then let Jann go, who stumbled slightly, and then came in with the finishing blow: a crushing elbow to the head. Jann fell to the ground, leaving Leifang screaming as she rushed to him, but he didn't answer.

"Funny how things work out, huh?" Andy smirked, shoving Leifang out of the way, crouching next to Jann. He grabbed a fistful of his hair, and rose to his full height, pulling Jann up with him. "Well, it sure looks like I won - now doesn't it?"

Jann's eyes snapped open, his eyes turning dark with hatred and revenge. "I don't think so."

Taking Andy by surprise, he whipped around to backhand him across the face. Moving fast, Jann tripped Andy who had stumbled back from the strike. He landed flat on the ground, his red eyes pinning. He swerved out of the way just as Jann slammed his foot where his head would have been had he not moved it.

Jann punched Andy in the face and then delivered another blow to the stomach. As Andy hunched over, Jann came in with a roundhouse kick to the neck. Andy flew back, slamming into the wall just as he came in with another crushing strike. He slammed his knee into Andy's stomach and then grabbed his head with one hand and punched him in the face with the other.

Andy, amidst it all, was able to hang onto Jann by the shoulders and then brought up his legs to kick him in the face. Jann landed on his back clutching his stinging yet unbroken nose. Andy cackled like a maniac, throwing his head back with a flourish.

"You can't outsmart me!" he crowed as Jann got back up, leaping off the ground with cat like agility, wiping off a trickle of blood that oozed from his lip.

Just as Jann came at him again as if to strike him, Andy shoved him so hard with one hand that he went sprawling until he hit the hard wall. A glowing intensity seemed to emanate from within Andy as he stood straighter, his silhouette a gleaming bloody red.

What happened next seemed to happen simultaneously.

Andy split into two, his silhouettes multiplying into multiple ghostly pure black silhouettes that looked to be so dense as if one were to put their hand through the figure, the blackness would swallow it whole. Andy was able to multiply once more so that there were at least 6 of the shadowy figures surrounding Jann Lee and Leifang who had crawled over to Jann. Finally, the red silhouette of Andy faded away, leaving him exhausted as he collapsed to floor.

The figure nearest Andy picked him up by the collar tossing him so that he landed before Jann and Leifang. They both had stood up slowly, staring at Andy's body which was unmoving except for a slight twitch of a muscle in his jaw. They looked back up at the figure who had tossed him which laughed cruelly, its voice chilling Leifang to the bone.

_It's the same voice from my nightmares! But what did he do to Andy? Was the only way he could maintain a full figure was to _possess_ Andy? _

The figure cracked its knuckles, advancing towards the 2 of them. "Well, it looks like he'll be _feeling_ those by tomorrow." It laughed, kicking Andy slightly, who still had woken up yet.

_So he had possessed him!_ Leifang thought confidently, her brow furrowing with anger.

"It sure as h*** feel good to be back." Said the figure, casually walking up to them, a chuckle escaping its lips. "Now where were we - oh right -"

Without waiting for them to catch up, it socked Jann in the jaw so hard that he flew back. Leifang ducked without thinking just as the figure reached out to grab her. Instead, she kicked it in the shins, and when it hopped from pain, she shoved it to the ground. Wheeling around, she grabbed Jann's hand which was not far away and began to run. What she forgot though was the other figures that were still surrounding them.

Almost immediately she ran into them along with Jann. They were separated when the two hit the shadowy figures, running right through them but not quite. Jann fell to the ground as one of the figures stepped over him, picking him up by the neck. The other figure had closed its arms around Leifang, immobilizing her from moving. She struggled furiously, but was unable to fight it back.

The lead figure had gotten back up, stalking towards Jann first, a grin on its face as it collided with the figure that had been holding him. "Killing you would be easy, but looks like I've run out of time. Leifang's time is also running out, so don't get too cocky." With that, it dropped Jann and moved onto Leifang who was still struggling.

It too joined the figure that was holding Leifang and hastily knocked her out. Once it had her in his grasp, it looked as if its body were sucking the air around it for the remaining shadow figures that were able to stop Jann from advancing any further. Once they were all gone, the figure said in a chilling whisper, "May your death be honorable." And with that it vanished into thin air, taking Leifang with it.

Jann howled after them, running to the spot where they had been just a moment ago. He pounded the ground with his fists, covering his face as hot tears threatened to spill. He kept them in though, his fists curling automatically.

_I'll rescue you Leifang if it kills me, but I'll rescue you and I'll bring you back to me - _Alive, he thought grimly.

He got up, picking up Andy with disgust, who was beginning to stir, meaning to carry him back to Mrs. Xu. _I have no choice but to carry this fool to her, but I have to tell her anyway what happened, just in case the figures come back to haunt anyone else. She should put them all under security and secure the premise for any more of those monsters. She's the only hope I have of finding Leifang and together we'll bring her back. _

_I'm _not _letting them take her. _

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**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I just had so much going on at school with exams and such that I wasn't able to write at all. But I finally managed to get this chap up, so hurray!! :D This fic I am sad to say is almost finished there should be only 2 more chapters up and an epilogue if I planned it correctly, but there will be a sequel (I don't know when, but there will be one - I promise). I also wanted to say thanks to all the people who are still reading this fic, (I really appreciate it!! 3) Until next time…. (which hopefully should be soon) **


	11. The Truth

**Chapter 11: The Truth **

Leifang woke up with a fuzzy haze clouding her mind as she tried to get up, but was unable to do so. She felt cold bindings around her and she looked down to gaze upon thick ropes that encased her, immobilizing her. She tried to untangle herself but in the process she noticed that she was filthy.

Her dress was mangled and torn in many places. There were dirt pieces that clung to her dress, smearing her pure white kimono style dress. Her fingers and legs were no longer white either for there was grime also covering them.

Looking around, she found out that she was in some sort of room where there was a huge dome roof and the place smelled of the sewer. Wrinkling her nose at the reek, she got up, propelling herself forward. Leifang's eyes filled with dread as she gazed once more upon her surroundings that she was indeed inside of a sewer.

A single bulb hung from the ceiling, coating the place in a dark and dreary environment. The curved wall held a green slime that seemed to ooze from the walls itself. Leifang also saw several passageways lead out from her cell. Looking down, she saw that a single cardboard sheet, which was bolted to the floor of the tunnel, was laid out for her where she was standing in a pool of slimy water that held all sorts of trash and other items that caused the polluted water to smell.

Out of nowhere a single squeak was heard and Leifang jumped, swiveling around to face the sound, but could not find the source. Wary, she scrutinized the dark tunnel that lead to her right when she heard the faint squeak once more followed by a quiet pattering. She turned once more in the direction when she looked down at her feet.

Sewer rats and all sorts of creatures were scurrying about her as she stifled a shriek in disgust. She leapt to her feet, almost falling, but caught herself. Jiggling out of the ropes, she was able to free herself, thus helping her to avoid the squeaking rats. Standing to the farthest of the cardboard, and careful not to fall off, she was able to rid herself of the annoying pests till later they would bother her.

_Where _am _I?_ she thought to herself in desperation. _Where's Jann? Where's the school? Where's everyone? _Feeling like she was about to burst out crying, Leifang held herself together though, crouching and hugging herself.

Then, out of the corner of her eye she saw something faintly shine.

Curious, she turned to the object and saw that it was a camera. It was hooked up to the darkest corner of the room, its wire leading upward through the ceiling.

_It has to lead to somewhere. And it's better to go check it out then stay here all day with nothing to do except to keep away from these hideous rats._

Making up her mind, she began to hatch up a plan in order to reach the camera since the platform in which she was standing on was bolted to the center of the tunnel. A faint humming sound of some sort of engine began to grow louder from one of the tunnels to her left, which got her thinking.

_Is someone coming to rescue me? Or is it just my imagination? I _am _feeling a bit sickish from lack of food and my head is starting to pound. But should I wait for the object to draw nearer, or should I jump? _She looked down into the water, the thick slime deciding for her. _Definitely not then. What if it's the figure from my dreams though? What would I do then? Shall I fight it then? It's my only choice. _

Growing determined, she readied herself for the threat when the object became clearer and more pronounced. It was definitely the sound of a jet boat and it was coming her way. Then a second later the boat appeared, carrying the passenger with it. The boat slowed to a stop in front of her.

Leifang gaped at the driver.

Even the rats seemed to stop and stare at the other human.

The driver was a youngish looking man but seemed older with his growing beard and his bloodshot eyes. He was dressed in filthy clothes, where the colors of his clothes had long since faded and now matched the colors of the sewer wall itself.

The man looked around nervously, bowing his head as if to not to look at Leifang directly. He lifted one filthy hand out to her, his overgrown hair concealing his grimy face.

"Mistress, you must come with me quick. Master will help you out of these dangerous tunnels where you will be safe and sound. This is not a good place to stay otherwise the beasts who live in the tunnels will eat you whole. Come, quickly! We must go!"

He finally looked at Leifang directly, gasping as he looked at her. His cheeks flushed as they made eye contact and he immediately looked away. "Hurry, mistress!"

She took a second to look at him closely, confusion etched across her face, as well as suspicion, although she tried her best to conceal it.

"What are you doing down here? Where are we?" Leifang asked him, ignoring his hand, but leaping onto the boat herself. She settled down into her seat when she realized she had to put an arm around him in order to not fall off. She almost puked in disgust, his stench petrifying her as she tried her best not to gag as she put one weak arm around him.

The boat took off, veering down the twisted tunnels of the sewer system and Leifang tried to hang on, hooking her fingernails into the underside of the boat.

Ignoring her first question, he proceeded on with her next. "We're deep inside the tunnels of Shanghai where all the sewage from the city filters."

"But what are _you_ doing here?" she pressed, hungry for answers.

"You are very lucky I found you here, mistress." He continued as if he hadn't heard her even though she was sitting not 2 inches away from him. "The tunnels of Shanghai are very dangerous. They are very dangerous indeed." He nodded his head, licking his lips.

Trying a different tactic, she asked, "Where are you taking me? How did you find me anyways if these tunnels are so dangerous anyways?"

She saw him grasp his handles more forcefully, his knuckles turning white. "I can not answer any more questions, mistress; for fear that the giant sewer rat will hear us and eat us alive. It will gorge us with its thick dagger like fangs and rip our flesh with the easiness of breaking a toothpick. They are mean and nasty old creatures, mistress. And master doesn't want pretty city girl to be harmed. No," here he shook his head. "No, not the pretty city girl. She must not be harmed. For master does not want that to happen to his mistress. No, master will not be happy indeed." And here he began to sweat; cold beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead.

_Master? MISTRESS? _HIS _MISTRESS? HOW DARE HE! _Leifang clutched the sides of the boat more forcefully, digging her fingernails in deeper as to not fall off. She removed her arm from around the man and grits her teeth together silently.

The man looked back at her, twitching slightly. "Master thinks that he has offended mistress by calling her _his_ mistress."

_You bet she is, _snarled to herself.

"Therefore master would like to apologize for the slip of his tongue. He did not wish to imply anything rude to the young pretty mistress." He glanced back at her again to see if she approved his apology.

She glared back at him, taking a deep breath. "Will you at least answer my questions? It would help to inform me why you're here?"

He turned back around, turning yet another corner and sped down the tunnels. It was a while before he spoke again, but Leifang waited patiently, not willing to rush him if he was willing to talk.

"Master's name is Jun." he said simply, talking once more in third person. He paused once more as if unsure whether or not to go on. "Master's father and his mother owned a very wealthy business and master was born into a rich family. He was very happy and content with what he had, although his parents where too busy to take any notice of him, but master knew they were busy people so he acknowledged the fact. He had been homeschooled all his life, but when master had turned 18, he thought that it was time for him to start college, something he very much looked forward. For one thing master would be able to see other children other than the other spoiled children his parents friends always brought over to master's house. It was a new experience for master."

Suddenly, he stopped the boat, pausing in his speech.

They had reached what seemed to be another platform, this time made out of metal where there was a tiny river flowing up to it so that he was able to ease the boat to a halt and bring the boat to the makeshift dock.

The room they had just entered had a different series of steps, the ladder and manhole visible through the shroud of darkness. It was damp and musty in the room, but it was livable and it was just what it seemed to be.

A small mattress was strewn on the floor, near a corner where some of its springs where showing through the ragged and old mattress. It had holes in it and there were swarms of flies surrounding the mattress. Next to it was a lantern where it carried a single candle which was lit. More candles were sitting next to it in pile along with a box of matches. An assortment of old tossed out magazines, books, and batteries along with an old radio were stacked high next to the bed.

In the other corner of the room was an old t.v. that had all sorts of antennas sticking out of it from the top and also where an old VCR sat next to it along with various tapes.

The only other light source in the area was the lone light bulb that hung from the center of the ceiling.

"Welcome to master's home, mistress." Jun said, bowing low, causing Leifang to flush embarrassingly. "Master is very happy to have mistress in his home. He is very happy that she is here with him. Please, master wants her to have a seat."

She blushed once more, when he sat on his bed and patted to the seat next to him, inviting her to join.

"No thank-"

"Here, master has even let mistress take the comfiest part of the mattress." He smiled encouragingly, causing Leifang to feel guilty.

Pushing aside her disgust, she smoothed her dress out and sat down. She smiled politely when she saw something that caught her eye. It was an old picture frame which had been shoved down the side of the mattress. Pulling it out, she saw Jun bend around to find what was of her interest and almost immediately, his face shut down into a solemn expression.

In the broken picture frame was an old black and white photograph of two Chinese parents holding a fair haired baby boy. The parents were dressed as if they were wealthy which was obvious. They both had solemn faces though. But the baby boy was what had caught her attention in the first place. He was the only person in the photo who seemed to be the happiest person on earth.

He was dressed in a casual suit, although the suit was still too big for him. He wore a big shiny smile, his eyes dancing with love and happiness.

Leifang touched the boy unconsciously, feeling a connection between her and the baby boy. As if on impulse, she looked up to meet Jun whose eyes had wet.

"This is you isn't it?" she asked softly. "This is your family?"

Jun said nothing but stare at the picture as a single tear ran down his grimy cheek, leaving a single white stain.

She looked back down at the picture, noticing something vital that she hadn't realized before. "This is the famous Fa family isn't it? Your parents…are dead - aren't they? I heard it in the news. They became criminals and were put in jail. But they died from the conditions of the cell even before their trial had started. You're their son? The one everyone has been looking for? The one person who is also now a _criminal_?" she looked at him in shock, and then did better to conceal her emotions, trying not to guilt him at the same time. "Or - at least that's what _they _said anyways. But…is it true? Is it true William?"

His true name seemed to sting him as he flinched uncontrollably. He looked away from her, wiping his tears as he did so.

Leifang waited patiently for him to turn back around, her eyebrow puckered in sympathy.

He finally turned around this time, but his eyes were furious and cold. "When master's - _my_ - parents spent more and more time in their business, the more the company had started to fail. Soon, it filed for bankruptcy and mast - _my_ family was forced to sell our home as well as all of our belongings, but it still wasn't enough to pay for the dept. So, my parents forced me into a foster home. They could no longer take care of me."

At this part Leifang grew shocked; the media had never let this slip.

"Desperate to have me back, my parents turned into criminals, thinking that everything that they had once worked so hard for was now turning against them. But they were caught, and sentenced to jail. I never heard of the news as I was kept away from the rest of the children and confined to my room. It was only when a week passed and my parents…_died_…did I hear of the imprisonment.

"Naturally, I was furious, but there was nothing I could do. The disease that killed them was something that was commonly found in most Chinese prisons. My parents weren't immune to the disease - and were ultimately killed from the bacteria.

"I was the oldest of the other children who were only ages 4-5 where I was 18. I was technically a grown adult by that time, but they wouldn't allow me to leave until everything was sorted out.

"Out of distress, I ran away, not wanting to be given to another family so that they could take care of me. I ran back to the Academy where I had enrolled in previously-"

"Wait a second! I go there too!" Leifang interrupted, astonished.

But to her surprise (and suspicion) William didn't look the least bit surprised. Instead, he nodded, and continued. "Since I was already enrolled, I decided to sneak back in. I wanted to be able to finish the school year so that I could gain a scholarship for next year so that I might be able to attend for another year. But I was caught towards the end of the year where the foster house was looking for me. They looked at my previous records and noticed that I had been a student there so they decided to investigate.

"When they found me, I was taken to the police station where I had managed to escape once more. To that point I had nowhere else to run, and out of exhaustion I happened to come across the sewers. I quietly slipped in while police cars zoomed all around Shanghai, trying to find me. By that time I was lonely, hungry, and exhausted. And that's the same day I met members of the elite gang - The Black Hand."

Leifang couldn't help it but her mouth popped open and she gasped. "_The Black Hand?_"

William nodded. "I was in desperate need of money and there they were. I wanted to _join_ them - but only for a little while, right up until I got my money. They agreed, but only if I showed to them how tough I was. A contest of strength. They knew who I was, and were ready to bet that I couldn't fight. But I told them. I tried to enroll in the Dead or Alive Tournament, where fighters from all around the globe come to test their strengths in a tournament. The winner could earn up to a million dollars. Intrigued, I knew that if I got in and somehow won the tournament, I wouldn't have to join The Black Hand.

"But then I found out that in order to enter the competition-" here his eyes turned a dark ugly color, and he tightened his fist. "One would need money. Furious, I tried to hide it a secret from The Black Hand, but they managed to find out and left. Overcome with stress, I was all alone and had nowhere to go. I didn't belong to anyone. I had no true home. So I began to call the sewers of Shanghai my permanent home - well, until I was able to enroll in the Academy once more. Learning was truly my favorite hobby, and I wanted more than ever to return to the vast school."

After a moment of silence and Leifang was sure he wasn't about to say anymore, she pressed him "But then what? Did you ever get the money you needed? Have you stayed here ever since then, William?" so many questions threatened to spill out of her lips, but she held them all, afraid that she might overwhelm William.

He looked away, both of his fists tightening till his knuckles turned white. "My name isn't William anymore. The Fa family doesn't exist anymore. My name is Jun."

Shaking her head, she tried to persuade him out of his stubbornness. "Your name is William, not Jun. Your name is William Fa. You should be proud. Your father and mother did so much for you William - you can't forget that."

He turned to face her, his eyes bloodshot and hard. "I know who I am. I don't need you to tell me." With that he got up and walked towards a hidden entrance that lead to somewhere down below. He opened the padlock with a key he carried around his wrist. He went inside without consulting Leifang, as if she didn't even exist.

Feeling curious yet homesick, she tried for the ladder which lead to the manhole and would lead her straight into the heart of Shanghai. But when she reached the top she realized that the manhole was bolted shut. A padlock blocked her way. She sighed and climbed back down, heading towards the door William had entered a little while ago.

The stairs lead to yet another room where this time the air seemed a little bit cleaner, and there was no sign of the yucky, slimy, polluted water that stank in the room above.

The room she entered was large, particularly since it joined with the sewer pipes. It was a small landing where she was able to stand but was still quite congested. To her right were the workings of the sewer pips where they were connected to each other, swirling and swerving in all directions. Looking over the ledge, she saw that the opening led to an - at least - 1,000 feet drop.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she looked up this time and saw that the ceiling wasn't until for a good 200 or so feet. The pipes where thicker than that of the trunk of a tree and were as long as 4 jumbo airplanes put together. Shivering at the scale of pipes and the height of the room, she also saw that there were signs where people who came in to fix the pipes if need be.

There were ladders and walkways in all four corners of the room. They almost seemed to resemble a fire escape system where the platforms were stacked on top of each other, with only ladders to connect them.

Feeling dizzy, Leifang walked away from the pipes and turned to face William who had a single jar in his hands which he grasped tightly. He was holding it to his chest with his feet dangling from off of the ledge. He was staring blankly at the sewer pipes, his eyes sparkling with triumph.

Walking over to him, Leifang paused before she sat down next to him, unsure on whether or not to disturb his daze. Once she saw that he didn't mind, she sat down, folding her legs, and keeping a good distance from the edge of the cliff.

She brushed a piece of her hair away from her face, leaning back casually. "What's that in your arms?"

It took a while before William spoke once more. "A jar."

When he said nothing else, Leifang rolled her eyes. "Why are you carrying an empty jar?"

"It's not empty." He said, his voice quivering slightly. His eyes seemed hollower than ever before. He continued to look to the sewers, ignoring Leifang who grew impatient.

"Then what's it holding?"

"Nothing."

"You just said-"

"I know what I said." He snapped, holding the jar more tightly to his chest.

In the sudden lapse of silence, Leifang turned once more to face the sewer pipes, but she continued to look at William the whole entire time from the corner of her eye. Growing even more impatient, she finally stood up, brushing imaginary dust off of her dress, although her dress was dirty and torn beyond repair.

"Well, since you're not revealing any clue as to what's going on, would you mind opening up the bolt from the manhole for me? It's locked, and I would rather much like to leave now. I'm sure everyone must be going hysterical back at the Academy. It was nice meeting you though - I won't tell anyone of your existence though if you don't want me to." She stared at William pointedly, but he made no move as if to stand up. He didn't even seem to hear her words.

"Hello?" she snapped, but he still didn't answer.

"I wanted more than ever to return to the Academy, but I couldn't, not without having to pay for my next semester there. I was trapped."

Leifang sighed, but sat back down next to him, enthralled by his story as none had ever been told. "Then what?" she said softly.

He turned to her, and turned back again to staring into empty space, barking out a humorless laugh. Then he continued in a harsh bitter tone. "It's funny how the world works. Right when you don't have money, you lose power; you lose everything - even yourself. I lost everything I had ever own in my life. I had no one. My family wouldn't take me in because they were too greedy to let someone like me enter their homes. I can't get a job - I'm still wanted by the police. My whole life is in ruins."

He turned to her, his eyes burning with ferociousness. He grasped Leifang's hands in his own, his touch shocking her. His hard calloused muscles of his hands rippled through his skin as he held her hands. "Leifang, what I am about to show you is something you mustn't tell or show anyone. Do you understand?" he looked to her eyes, searching for signs of betrayal, but she was frozen in her spot.

She stared at the jar in his hands, actually staring at its contents for the first time with her mouth opening into a wordless scream. Her eyes grew horrified and she immediately tried to scramble away from William who grasped her hands more tightly, not allowing her to escape his clutches. She shook her head, her braids dancing around her as she shook her head more violently.

"Let go of me, William." Leifang cried, her voice hoarse, feeling as if she couldn't breathe.

"Leifang, you must trust me!" he cried out, trying to gently pry her back into a sitting position.

She ignored his cry, and stood up more forcefully, almost knocking the jar out of William's clutches. He eased the jar down and he stood up too, grabbing her arms and holding her in position.

"I won't hurt you! _They _won't hurt you! You must understand! Begin to understand what I have been going through! This was the only choice!" he growled, trying to maintain a calm façade.

"NO!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, pulling hard to reclaim her arms, but although he was dirty and grimy, he was much more powerful than she had expected. "YOU'RE A MONSTER! LET ME GO!"

He raised his voice to match her hysteria, trying desperately to make her understand. "LEIFANG! Stop and consider what I have been through! This - _this_ - was my only option." He held up the jar, black tendrils of a smoggy substance reaching out and scraping the glass. The smog was so dense, it was impossible to see right through it.

"Imprisoning spirits will get you nowhere!" Leifang said as calmly as she could, still trying to fight him. "You _know _how dangerous spirits are! You're uncle died when he tried to summon them to do his bidding! And now this! You're mad!" She wacked his arm away, causing him to stumble slightly. Reaching out towards the ground to better hold his ground, William's hand accidently swiped the jar.

The pair watched in silence as the jar twirled away from his grasp and slipped over the edge. There was a long silence that followed when suddenly a crash was heard with the glass of the jar shattering. Its echo hung throughout the entire breadth, filing into the room with an ear-ringing clamor.


	12. A Promise

**Chapter 12: A Promise**

Leifang and William stared at each other a long moment, each trying to comprehend what had just happened. Suddenly, William dropped to the floor, as if a great weight had befallen him. He sobbed; his sobs gut-wrenching. Leifang felt sorry for him immediately, but thought that using spirits were bad nonetheless.

_What did he plan on doing with them anyways?_ She kept her distance though, preferring to remain on the outskirts of the room.

When he finally stopped crying, he stood up, his face streaked with hot tears. He stumbled to a broken down desk nearby, yanking one of the drawers open. The drawer fell out with a loud bang, crashing into the floor. He pulled something out of the drawer just before he let the drawer fall, concealing it in his clothes.

William turned back around to face Leifang who had grown fidgety, not knowing what to make of his strange behavior. Acting as if he were drunk, he revealed a sleek and shining object from his garments, aiming the gun at Leifang who grew pale.

"I don't think I mentioned the rest of my story to you, did I?" he sneered, staggering towards her, as she took slow steps away from him. "By then I had nothing and I couldn't trust anyone. So I decided to read about the ancient dark Chinese mythical spirits. I called upon them to help me in my time of need.

"The Dead or Alive tournament didn't allow illegal activity on their grounds so I decided to get revenge on the one school that turned me down." Here William gripped the gun tighter even though it continued to shake. "_The Academy_."

He smiled as Leifang's eyes widened in fear, knowing what he was about to say and knowing why she was really brought here.

"I told the spirits to find me a good fighter-" he cocked his head, his eyes gleaming as a smirk came across his lips. "And they picked _you_. They saw something in you that they have never seen before in anyone else. They knew you were strong and efficient so they brought you to me.

He paused to lick his lips, pointing the gun down at the floor for a moment. "I was truly surprised that they gave me you - I thought they would give me someone like Jann Lee."

Leifang took a slight intake of breath at the name, her blood running cold.

"But they brought me you - so I accepted. I mean, now not only can I _use _you for my job, but I can also have fun at the same time." He chuckled and Leifang's spine shivered with dread. "Since you haven't _technically_ responded whether you wanted to join me -"

"I will _never_ join you." Leifang snapped coldly, planting her feet down firmly, her face defiant. Her fingers curled into fists, but this time the movement seemed familiar and strangely relaxing, as if she could take down anyone.

"You're making a _big_ mistake Leifang." He warned, staggering towards her with the gun still pointed at her, his eyes narrowed. "Don't do this!"

She in return narrowed her eyes, feeling utter disgust bloom within her for the man lurching towards her.

Getting into fight position, she calmly watched him approach till he was not 10 feet away from her. He paused suddenly, took aim and fired the gun at her, taking Leifang by surprise.

She ducked just in time, rolling out of the way as he tried to take a swing at her with the butt of the gun. He tried to fire once more at her, but this time she was prepared. She came in with a blow to the jaw, momentarily fazing him as she grabbed his gun and did a 360, aiming the gun at him.

Shocked, William rubbed his jaw where she had punched him and snarled menacingly. Before he could lunge at her though, she made a split decision and sprinted towards the walkways, fully aware that he was chasing her.

She propelled herself over the railing and practically flew down the ladder, running to another nearby ladder and sliding down, repeating her steps to try and reach the lowest level where she would be able to sprint out of the sewers. All the while William was right on her tail, furious and ready to attack.

Leifang was one of the best runners of her class, but even she couldn't run with heels that were susceptible to the barred platforms where her heel would get stuck, causing her to lose precious time trying to pry it loose. Finally, she bent over, whisking her heels off of her feet, almost sighing in relief when the pain was immediately lifted. William, however, took the advantage of her stopping and sprinted towards her, practically flying down the ladder.

Stifling a shriek, Leifang held onto her heels with one hand, tossing the gun away and slipped down one of the ladders. William growled, screaming, "You're not getting away from me Leifang! Haven't you heard? You can run but you can't hide!"

She ignored him, about to run to a ladder when she saw something to her right that caught her attention. She glanced at it to see that it was a square shape and that it could possibly lead somewhere. She dove into the hiding spot without even thinking about the consequences.

There was a moments pause as she held her breath, her heart drumming inside of her chest so loudly, she thought that it would giver her away.

Then William stalked past her hiding place, a frown on his face as he tried to find Leifang who seemed to have disappeared right before him. He began to pace back and forth in front of Leifang's hiding place which caused her to panic even more. William howled in fury, slamming his fist into the railing.

Suddenly, Leifang had an idea, but she knew she had to act quickly. William had paused and was looking around vehemently, leaning against the railing. _This is my chance_. Swallowing her gut feeling to just hide in the hole till he left, she sprang from her hiding place, ramming into a surprised William, causing him to flip over the railing.

He screamed in panic, trying to hang on to the railing, but his grip slipped and he fell, sprawling towards the ground, hundreds of feet down.

Leifang turned from the would-be gory scene, but she knew she had no other choice. William was an outlaw, and no matter where he was, he would never fit in, and he would always remain different – unbreakable. There was no hope for him.

Then, a loud **BANG!**was heard and Leifang couldn't help but turn to see what had become of William when what she saw caused her to shriek in revolt.

William had fallen on one of the pipes, but the spirits that had broke free from the jar, circled him, murmuring in ancient Chinese. William screamed in agony as a dozen of holes appeared in his body, each hole letting a torrent of pure light escape till his eyes, his nose, his ears, and his mouth were glowing with the light, as if the light was shining inside of him. Then, as quickly as they had appeared, the holes in his body disappeared, leaving his body slumped against the cold hard pipe.

The spirits chuckled, one of them holding out its palm to show a black sludge like substance levitating just centimeters from its palm. Then, slowly, the spirits turned to Leifang who had backed up against the wall, her face blanched of all colors. She stood shivering in her ripped and dirty kimono, trying her best to take on her fight – or – flight instincts which she tried to ignore. _Get real Leifang! No one can outrun a spirit_.

But they didn't attack her, instead they floated gaily towards her, expressions of pure happiness upon their faces. "Leifang!" one of the spirits intoned – it looked to be a woman; her body was a wispy white and she was wearing an old Chinese dress that was worn back in the day. Her black hair flew in tendrils around her serene and beautiful face. "Leifang!" she repeated, her voice sounding like an echo and sounding far off.

"Yes?" Leifang answered, trying her best to remain confident and brave, but her lip trembled in fear.

The spirit woman noticed and smiled kindly. "Have no fear my dear, for you have set us free, and we are forever in debt to your kindness, mistress. And take this as a vow to seal our promise." She took off the necklace she had been wearing, the golden medallion turning into solid gold when she murmured something in Chinese. She placed the medallion around Leifang's neck; the gold chain was so long that it finally stopped at her rib cage.

Suddenly, Leifang gasped, fingering her neckline for some invisible necklace. "My necklace! I lost Jann Lee's necklace!" she cried, looking panic stricken.

"I didn't no men wore necklaces! Oh, what has happened to our children!" One of the other spirit women muttered wryly to the spirit male floating next to her, causing him to chuckle.

But Leifang ignored her. "He gave me a necklace! It was diamond heart – about this big!" She crouched on the floor, covering her face in shame. "Oh, how could I loose something so valuable to me!" she quietly sobbed into her hands when she felt a cold hand on her shoulder. She looked up, her face dirty and streaked with tears.

The kind spirit woman smiled kindly. "If Jann Lee truly loves you, he will not think twice about the necklace. Your love is not based around a simple necklace Leifang – remember that."

Nodding, Leifang smiled tearfully, wiping away the last of her tears. She stood up straight just as the spirits began to back away from her, their forms fading.

"Wait! Don't go!" she called out, but they just smiled ruefully at her.

"The man hole is open. You may leave and return safely home." one of the males said, smiling.

"But what about William?" she called, reaching out, as if she could grab them and make them stay. "How will I be able to contact you again? Please!"

"William will not trouble you or anyone ever again. His soul is with us, and we _will_ break him. We have not forgiven him for enslaving us for doing his evil deeds. As for contacting us…we have already given you a portal into our world. Think not hard for it is on you." Then they were gone, their white shadow figures disappearing into thin air.

Out of instinct, Leifang turned to the body that belonged to William. Slowly, his body too disappeared into thin air. Finally she turned to her necklace. _This must be the portal they were talking about. But how would I call them? _Shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts, she thought, _first I should think about getting _out_ of here, before I try to contact them again. I don't want to bother them with my useless chattering._

Racing up the stairs towards the manhole, she started to feel ecstatic as realization finally hit her. _I'm going home! _

* * *

**okay, i hope you guys liked this chapter, i noe i noe, i took a looooooooooonnnnnnnnnggggg time to post this, and im truly sorry. good news - or bad news, depends on how u take it - this fic has like 2 more chapters and then im wrapping it up. but dont worry, im going to come out with a sequel. wen? u might ask......i have no idea. a big thank you to all those devoted readers!!!! i noe u must all hate me for the sluggish updates, but im currently writing a non-related fanfic right now, and that is my top priority right now. i will try my best with the next chapter tho, which shouldn't take too long since i already started it, but lets see anyways. once again, a big thank you to all my readers, and to those of u who are new, please read and review!!! :D**


	13. Returning Home

**Chapter 13: Returning Home **

Leifang put all of her last remaining strength into propping the man hole open wide enough for her to climb out into the fresh clean air of downtown Shanghai. Leifang felt herself relax and let out a sigh of relief. She was finally out of the sewers and back in the streets like the born city girl she was.

She rested alongside the curb of the road feeling a headache heading her way, but still thankful that she had made it out alive. The streets were not as crowded, but they were crowded enough that several people gasped when they saw her in her state. Several cars on the street screeched to a halt as they silently watched her climb out of the man hole.

One of cars that had stopped was a police car and the two policemen exited their cars, hastily rushing to her side. "Miss Leifang?" one of them said to her, his tone of that of surprise and amazement.

Leifang herself looked up in shock. "How do you know my name officer?"

"You have been missing for 2 days now. The whole city has been looking for you!" the officer said tensely.

She looked at him in surprise, then heard herself murmur, "Oh no," then she slipped into unconsciousness.

The last thing Leifang remembered was sitting on a curb in Shanghai, but this time when she woke up, she was in a hospital.

She sat up with a gasp, clutching the gold medallion to her chest when she became aware of her surroundings, including the strong warm calloused hand that was grasping her hand gently. The hand gave a squeeze and Leifang turned to the person sitting next to her bed. It was Jann Lee!

His concerned face crinkled into a warm smile just as she immediately lunged forward and grabbed him into a ferocious hug. He felt his strong arms come around her to hold her tighter to his chest and Leifang felt her tense muscles finally relax. _I'm finally home,_ she thought happily when she suddenly remembered and her heart gave a squeeze at the pain. She swallowed in her sob, not wanting to concern Jann Lee, but he knew her too well to know that there was something wrong.

"What's wrong Leifang?" he asked gently, his affectionate voice causing her to give in and sob into his neck, grasping his shirt painfully. "What happened?" Suddenly his voice turned hard, and he pulled her tighter into his grip, his body tensing.

After a few moments of trying her best to control her sobbing, she finally managed to say, "I lost the necklace you gave me! And I'm s-so s-s-s-orr-y-y!"

There was a moment of silence and Leifang's sobs grew until she was shaking. The whole time she was gone had taken a toll on her both physically and mentally. Her wrists and her ankles where bruised with all the bindings and she was mentally unstable because she hadn't slept or ate food for 2 1/2 days. All this, Jann Lee took in, growing more and more angry with himself. _I should have done more to have helped her! How could I be so stupid? How could I have not thought of checking the sewers? Now look at her Jann Lee! She's crying over some stupid bracelet that she _lost!_ How could I possibly _miss_ the necklace and not her? The fact that she is still alive is something she should be rejoicing about - not about some stupid necklace I gave her, just for her to like me! Oh man, how do I set this straight?_

"Um, Leifang?" Jann said smirking slightly, pulling her away so he could see her face more clearly.

Her big brown eyes turned to him, looking ashamed. Her small shoulders sagged and her bottom lip stuck out in the same way when she was being stubborn or when she was sad.

He couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "You honestly think that our love was based around your necklace? That once it was gone, our love would vanish?"

Her eyes widened and she shook her head slightly, looking even more ashamed.

"Leifang," he said, suddenly turning serious. He gently tucked one hand under her chin and pulled it up to meet his steady serious gaze. "If you honestly think that - _well then you've got it all wrong._" He pressed his mouth firmly against hers, turning his head so that he had a better angle. He pulled her off of the bed and onto his lap, gently cupping her face and kissing her with Jann Lee like determination. She, too, wrapped her arms around him, letting herself go as they hungrily kissed each other.

They were interrupted twice, but they ignored the onlookers, only gazing into each others souls and allowing themselves to be able to finally relax. Only when they were finally out of breath did they turn to look at who had come in to visit them and Leifang grew embarrassed when she saw that it was her parents and her friends who had entered, along with the doctor and nurse.

"Leifang!" her mother cried, letting loose a torrent of tears that streamed down her face like a waterfall. Leifang got up, giving Jann Lee a secret smile, who seemed at ease, and gave her mother a big bear hug who wouldn't let her daughter go until she had finally stopped crying. Her father also cried, but not as much as his wife and he too hugged his daughter tightly, kissing her on the forehead.

Then Leifang moved onto her friends who each gave her hugs, each of them crying and welcoming her home. Finally she returned to her bed where Jann put one hand on her knee as the doctor stepped in to give the results of her test.

His straightened his glasses and peered at the clipboard he was holding one last time before clearing his throat and speaking loudly. "It looks to me that Miss Leifang is perfectly fine." Everyone cheered at the good news and Leifang couldn't but blush. "The only problem is is that she will be needing at least 2 days with 12 hours of sleep and full meals in _bed_. The only time she is allowed out of bed is - obviously - when she needs to use the bathroom - but other than that - she is okay." He smiled politely and nodded at Leifang. "We recommend that you stay here, but you are welcome to go back to your dorm room." With that, he left, leaving the nurse to stand by Leifang's bed for her response.

"Um," she began nervously, playing with her fingers to buy her some time. _I don't want to be a pain to everyone where they would have to come visit me in the hospital. I can just walk to my dorm room, and then from then on, I promise, no more walking. _She opened her mouth to speak, but Jann beat her to it.

He had been watching her carefully, and almost as if he could read her mind, he frowned and answered for her. "She will stay here."

Leifang tried once more to open her mouth to speak, frowning and turning stubborn.

Jann shook her head and interrupted her again. "It won't be a problem to _any_ of us to visit Leifang -_ right everyone?_"

Everyone else vigorously nodded their heads, looking just as stubborn as Leifang, who finally sighed and gave in when everyone gave her cold looks.

The nurse nodded, pursing her lips thoughtfully, and walked away.

Once more everyone bade their good-bye to Leifang, wanting to leave Leifang with Jann.

There was silence after everyone had left and she looked up to see Jann scrutinizing her every move. She felt her cheeks warm up and she ducked her head when he spoke.

"So…what happened in there? Who captured you? We found stuff that belonged to William Fa - but we were still doubtful that he could have been your -"

"It _was_ him." She sighed and lay back against her pillows. This was what she had been dreading to talk about and tension rolled off of her like waves. "He wanted me to work for him; to fight for him and to win him money so that he could study at The Academy."

Jann frowned, reaching for her hand and squeezing it slightly. "But the spirits…?"

"He enslaved them to do his bidding. But I couldn't agree with him, and the jar that held the spirits smashed and escaped. William fell overboard and the spirits surrounded him, stealing his soul away from him. They said they would break him till he respected them and others. They took his body too - and they gave me _this_." She lifted the gigantic gold medallion from her stomach and showed it to him.

They both leaned forward as Leifang rubbed some of the grime off of the medallion so that they were able to read the Chinese inscription that curled into a spiral. The characters glowed once, and Leifang now understood how to contact them once more.

"They promised me their help and wisdom for setting them free. They said I could contact them any time when there was trouble around. See?" she tried to lift the necklace from around her neck, but the necklace seemed as if it were glued to her hospital gown. "What…?" She tried once more to lift it, but it wouldn't budge.

Jann took her hands and grinned. "We tried to take it off of you when you were sleeping - we all thought that it would choke you - but it didn't come off. We were so concerned because you slept for a day, and we thought that any second it would entangle with your neck, so I made it my job to stay here and watch you."

"Oh Jann!" she hugged him again and then pulled back once more, fingering the necklace. Suddenly she stopped and looked up sharply. "What did I miss?"

Jann's eyebrows went up and he rolled his eyes when she made a stubborn face at him again. "Nothing."

"No, seriously, what did I miss? I missed like 3 or 4 days right? What did I miss? Tell me. Please?"

"Trust me - you didn't miss anything?" he said, giving her a wry look.

"I had to have missed something! How was the party? Did anyone throw up? I heard that someone always pulls pranks at the dance, that it's like their specialty."

"Leifang!" Jann groaned, giving her an exasperated look. "Who cares?"

"I do!" she said defensively, folding her arms across her chest. "Tell me."

"I don't know! I don't care!"

"Oh, you are the worst boyfriend ever!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes really!"

"Would the worst boyfriend ever have arranged a special party for his girlfriend with just her friends and their boyfriends? I think _not_."

"You _didn't!_ Wait - did you just say that Ella, Lisa, Melody, Hay Lin, and Amber all stayed with their dates?! This is just amazing! I love you soooooo much Jann!"

"I love you too!" he laughed, as she kissed him on the cheek, clapping her hands together like a little girl.

"This is going to be soooooooooooooooooooooooo much fun! Wow, I should get captured more often!"

* * *

**Sorry for the whole cornyness (is that even a word??? o well, spell check isn't doing anything...or do i have to turn it on for it to work...hmm...oh whatever) of this chapter, but i just had to add in how o my gosh everyone is like so happy that she is okay and stuff, so yeah. especially with the whole 'i love u jann' bleah. i dont usually like writing mushy stories, but i just had to add that in, so there you go :D Please read and review!! (and sorry for having this chap so small) and a big thank you to all of my readers too 3 **


	14. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

[Beginning of Radio Show]

"_Good Morning ladies and gentlemen of Shanghai! What a beautiful morning it is, won't you agree with us Barbara?" _

"_It is indeed a wonderful and sunny morning here in the heart of China, Chung Foo. With the start of summer everything has bloomed and the flowers are turning their peak colors." _

"_Yes, with all of those who are listening, the heat of the afternoon's sun isn't the only thing that has woken us for the time of summer. _

"_The newest Dead or Alive tournament has arrived, and looks like we already have a bunch of arrivals. I think they only have 2 slots left which is quite amazing. Usually there used to be more slots open, but this time there only seems to be 2! Amazing!" _

"_It _is_ amazing! To think that only last year only a handful of the world's greatest warriors participated in the renowned tournament. I hear it is being held in Japan this year and that a diverse group of fighters have joined the tournament. I think this year might be the year that someone puts The King in his place, don't you think Chung?" _

"_You might be right Barbara, but it certainly does look like it'll be a tough match for The King this year. Fighters from America, Japan, Russia, South Africa, France, and a bunch more are coming together to fight as one. I think that the tournament this year will _definitely_ be interesting. I will keep in touch with the matches, and hope to update as much as I can on radio channel 555…" _

[End of Radio Show]

* * *

**Yeah you can bet that i'm going to write a sequel, so just something to look forward too (well, at least for me). i promise that i will try to be a little more faster in updating with my next fic, but i will try my best. I hope this little radio showcast gave you all something to think about - a little hint hint (shh!!) about my next sequel where this time im gonna involve almost the whole entire cast of characters of dead or alive, or the ones i see fit to be in the story. im not sure what the title will be (i got a couple of names - if anyone would like to know or would like to help me, just pm me and i'll even give you a little sneak peak of what my next story will be like), but i got like the whole basics of the story line down and stuff. so i hope to get to that soon, but im not promising anything. i still have to write up my other story that im doing which is non fanfic related and which to me personally is more important. thank you for all of those who read my fics with such great enthusiasm and i really am thankful that you all took in interest in my story 3 (you know i never knew that was supposed to be a heart until gmail turned it around so that it looked like a heart...just a little humor there for ya). Anyways, thank you all so much for reading my fic, and stay toon to when i announce the opening of my sequel :D**


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